BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


5  S  a 

:A.;CROFT 

LIBRARY 


CHKONICLES  OF  THE  BUILDEES. 


CHAPTER   I. 

POLITICAL  HISTORY  AND  GOVERNMENT  IN  CALIFORNIA. 

MISSION  ESTABLISHMENTS — CALIFORNIA  UNDER  SPANISH  AND  MEXICAN  RULE 
— ACQUISITION  BY  THE  UNITED  STATES — DISCOVERY  OF  GOLD — ORGANIZA 
TION  OF  GOVERNMENT — ELECTIONS  AND  LEGISLATIVE  PROCEEDINGS — THE 
JUDICIARY  AND  MILITARY — PARTY  POLITICS  AND  THE  PROGRESS  OF  AF 
FAIRS. 

CONQUEST  and  occupation  north  of  the  ancient  Az 
tec  boundaries  in  Mexico  declined  with  the  waning  of 
the  Cortesian  era  of  adventure.  Treasure-hunting 
became  unprofitable,  the  gilded  cities  of  Cibola  proved 
a  fleeting  fancy,  and  even  the  pearls  of  Lower  Cali 
fornia  eluded  search,  while  the  interoceanic  passage 
retreated  into  ice-bound  regions  before  the  disap 
pointed  explorers. 

Silver  mines  were  gradually  disclosed,  however, 
and  gave  impulse  to  road-making  and  town-building 
alono-  the  coast,  and  to  the  establishment  of  lines  of 

" 

presidios  for  the  protection  of  advancing  settlements 
against  roaming  savages,  who,  unlike  the  gentler 
tribes  to  the  southward,  could  not  readily  be  made 
amenable  to  encomienda  enslavement.  So  far  the 
friars  had  followed  in  the  path  of  the  conquerors,  or 
accompanied  them  as  mediators.  Now  their  services 
were  invoked  to  prepare  the  way  for  subjugation,  al 
though  they  strove  in  the  interests  both  of  the  church 
and  themselves,  to  retain  the  control  acquired  at  such 
risk,  and  to  protect  the  natives  against  serfdom. 

With  the  advance  of  missionaries  into  Sonora,  in 
terest  in  the  opposite  peninsula  revived,  and  successful 
pearl-fishing  was  attended  by  several  futile  attempts 

C.  B.— II.     1  (1) 


i\(r- 

*v*» 


2  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

to  form  settlements.  The  soil  was  too  barren.  But 
no  obstacle  could  stand  in  the  way  of  religious  zeal. 
The  Jesuits  undertook  the  task,  and  aided  by  contri 
butions  from  the  pious,  they  gradually  built  up  a  line 
of  missions  parallel  to  the  gulf  of  California.  The 
attendant  presidios  protected  the  growth  of  a  few 
farms  and  villages,  and  in  due  time  the  province  at 
tained  the  dignity  of  a  government. 

Thus  passed  two  centuries  without  any  northwest 
ward  extension  of  domain  beyond  the  Jesuit  estab 
lishments  of  Sonora  and  Lower  California.  Then 
came  news  of  the  Russian  entry  from  the  Asiatic  side, 
arousing  the  jealousy  of  Spain,  whose  government  be 
came  thereupon  impressed  with  the  need  of  a  refitting 
station  on  the  upper  coast  for  the  Manila  galleon,  to 
gether  with  the  desirability  of  carrying  the  presidio  line 
northward  into  the  land  cf  the  encroaching  Apaches. 
Coupled  with  this  was  the  laudable  service  to  God 
and  Mammon  in  bringing  the  benighted  heathen 
within  church  bondage,  for  the  benefit  of  an  endowed 
priesthood,  and  the  pockets  of  prospective  settlers. 

The  energetic  visitador-general,  Galvez,  was  ac 
cordingly  charged  to  occupy  Upper  California,  which 
he  did  in  1769,  by  means  of  a  sea  and  land  expedition 
from  the  peninsula,  fitted  out  mainly  from  mission  re 
sources,  the  troops  and  friars  being  under  the  command 
of  Governor  Portola  and  Father  Junipero  Serra.  With 
this  force  was  founded  San  Diego  mission,  protected 
by  a  guard  under  Rivera  y  Moncada,  and  soon  after 
by  a  presidio.  This  first  result  was  not  attained  with 
out  many  troubles,  notably  from  delayed  supply  ves 
sels,  and  the  prevalence  of  scurvy,  which  almost 
caused  it  to  be  abandoned.  In  the  following  year  was 
established  the  chief  station  and  future  capital  in  the 
presidio  of  Monterey,  enclosed  at  first  within  a  par 
allelogram  of  adobe,  with  tile  roofing,  upon  an  outer 
stone  foundation,  divided  into  barrack  rooms,  family 
suites,  warehouses,  shops,  corrals,  and  church.  In 
time,  with  conversion  and  assured  security,  houses 


THE  FRANCISCANS  IN  CALIFORNIA.  3 

were  built  around  it,  forming  a  settlement,  in  which 
were  domiciled  natives,  who  from  the  first  were  im 
pressed  both  for  mission  and  barrack  labor. 

Between  this  station  and  San  Diego  rose  several 
missions,  five  being  in  existence  in  1772.  By  this 
time  the  Franciscans,  who  had  undertaken  the  task, 
became  so  impressed  with  the  fertility  and  prospects 
of  the  new  field,  that  they  hastened  to  secure  its  ex 
clusive  control  by  surrendering  their  Lower  California 
foundations  to  the  Dominicans.  Nineteen  friars  were 
consequently  obtained  for  Alta  California,  subject  to 
the  president  at  the  head  mission  of  San  Cdrlos,  near 
Monterey.  Nevertheless  their  labors  were  hampered 
by  the  scanty  means  at  their  disposal  for  planting 
new  missions  and  raising  sufficient  crops  at  the  exist 
ing  establishments  to  attract  and  retain  converts,  for 
the  souls  of  savages  are  to  be  found  in  their  stomachs. 
Rude  huts  and  outlying  rancherias  constituted  for 
some  time  the  chief  abode  of  the  fluctuating  popula 
tion.  Another  obstacle  presented  itself  in  the  dis 
orderly  conduct  of  the  guard,  of  from  six  to  sixteen 
soldiers,  over  whom,  however,  the  friars  soon  gained 
better  control,  persuading  many  to  conciliate  the  na 
tives  by  intermarriage.  Progress  was  further  checked 
by  the  jealous  restrictions  of  the  government  in  for 
bidding  trade  with  foreigners,  and  by  the  regulations 
enforced  as  to  the  Manila  galleons.  Traffic  must  be 
confined  to  the  government  transports  from  San  Bias, 
under  the  imposition  of  heavy  percentages  to  cover 
expenses. 

The  civil  and  military  authority  was  vested  in 
Lieutenant  Pedro  Fages,  commandant  at  Monterey 
and  subordinate  to  the  governor  of  the  Californias  at 
Loreto.  His  force,  in  1773,  consisted  of  sixty  men, 
twenty -five  of  whom  were  Catalan  volunteers,  of  his 
own  company,  the  rest  regular  soldados  de  cuera,  sup 
plemented  by  a  body  of  Indian  laborers  from  the 
peninsula,  a  few  servants  and  mechanics,  besides  the 
growing  neophyte  population  under  the  friars,  The 


4  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

supervision  naturally  devolving  upon  the  military- 
head  in  command  of  the  mission  guard,  and  through 
whom  must  be  obtained  the  government  orders,  was 
galling  to  the  padres,  and  gave  rise  to  frequent  dis 
putes,  which  Fages  embittered  by  a  haughty  and 
capricious  attitude,  and  by  meddling  in  mission  affairs. 
President  Serra  went  in  person  to  Mexico  to  plead 
his  cause,  and  succeeded  in  obtaining  for  the  mission 
aries  almost  entire  liberation  from  military  interfer 
ence,  and  the  appointment  in  1773  of  a  new  ruler  in 
the  person  of  Captain  Rivera  y  Moncada,  a  mild,  irres 
olute,  and  incapable  man.  The  force  at  his  command 
was  increased  to  eighty  men,  with  a  pay  list  of 
$39,000.  A  portion  of  this  sum  came  from  the  pious 
fund,  created  by  donation  for  missionary  work  in  the 
Californias,  and  which  yielded  at  this  time  nearly 
$21,000  a  year,  two  thirds  of  it  being  absorbed  by 
stipends. 

Rivera  failed  to  please  his  superiors,  and  after  four 
years  was  transferred  to  the  charge  of  the  peninsula, 
the  governor,  Felipe  de  Neve,  major  of  provincial 
cavalry,  being  sent  to  Monterey,  which  thus  became 
the  seat  of  government  for  both  Californias.  The 
greater  importance  of  the  upper  country  was  further 
recognized  by  measures  for  enlarging  occupation  by 
founding  a  third  presidio,  at  San  Francisco,  with  a 
mission  attached,  and  for  aiding  it  by  reinforcements, 
and  by  colonization.  The  first  foundation  in  1777 
was  the  now  prominent  town  of  San  Jose,  which  set 
a  laudable  example  to  the  mission  farms  by  under 
taking  the  first  irrigation  work  of  any  magnitude, 

Neve  was  a  man  of  marked  ability,  who  only  re 
quired  opportunity  to  demonstrate  it.  He  saw  at  a 
glance  that  the  existing  regulations  were  for  a  country 
so  promising  altogether  defective,  and  he  prepared 
a  plan  more  suitable,  of  broader  possibilities,  which 
was  adopted  with  slight  modifications.  Under  it  was 
included  a  fourth  presidio  at  Santa  Barbara,  a  second 
pueblo  at  Los  Angeles,  an  increase  of  missions  to 


PRESIDIOS  AND  SETTLEMENTS.  5 

e/even,  and  of  troops  to  two  hundred,  with  four  lieu 
tenants,  most  of  them  to  be  retained  at  the  presidios,  the 
guard  at  the  missions  being  reduced  to  about  six  men. 
The  pay  list  was  limited  to  $53,500,  on  account  of  the 
local  food  contributions  and  the  abolition  of  extra 
rates  for  supplies  from  Mexico.  Pueblo  settlers  were 
to  receive  an  allowance  of  $116.50  for  the  first  two 
years  and  $60  for  the  next  three,  in  goods  at  cost 
prices,  and  also  a  lot  and  field,  together  with  the 
loan  of  live  stock,  seed,  and  implements.  In  return 
they  must  be  prepared  with  horse  and  arms  for 
military  emergencies,  perform  certain  community 
labor,  sell  their  products  exclusively  to  the  presidio, 
and  not  own  more  than  about  fifty  head  of  any  one 
kind  of  stock. 

Notwithstanding  these  favorable  conditions,  com 
mercial  restrictions,  missionary  opposition,  and  innate 
indolence  hampered  progress.  One  cause,  moreover, 
which  inflicted  a  lasting  wound  on  loyalty,  appeared 
in  the  form  of  vagrant  and  convict  settlers,  with 
some  of  whom  Branciforte  was  founded.  The  out 
cry  obliged  the  government  to  change  its  policy  in 
this  respect.  A  worse  influence  was  exercised  by  the 
labor  of  Indians  which,  as  the  Mexicans  claimed, 
made  work  degrading.  To  the  former,  therefore,  was 
left  all  field  labor  by  the  lazy  and  proud  settlers, 
who  in  return  demoralized  and  oppressed  the  natives, 
resorting  even  to  kidnapping  and  other  outrages. 
Thirty  families  only  were  introduced  for  the  pueblos ; 
but  their  offspring,  and  the  accession  of  retired  soldiers, 
married  partly  to  Indians,  raised  the  population  of 
the  three  towns  by  1800  to  fully  five  hundred.  At 
first  the  governor  appointed  comisionados  to  supervise 
affairs,  but  within  a  few  years  elections  were  per 
mitted  of  alcaldes  and  regidores  to  join  in  the  ad 
ministration. 

It  had  been  hoped  that  the  natives  would  develop 
under  the  guidance  of  the  friars  so  as  to  permit  the 


6  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

speedy  transformation  of  the  missions  into  pueblos; 
and  to  this  end  the  authorities  lent  their  aid  by  in 
troducing  artisans  to  teach  them  trades,  and  by  caus- 
ino-  the  early  election  among  the  older  communities 
of  local  officials  for  training  in  self-government.  But 
the  padres  were  naturally  opposed  to  relinquishing 
their  control  of  affairs.  They  availed  themselves, 
therefore,  of  the  natural  indolence  and  stupidity  of 
their  wards  to  keep  in  pupilage  and  serfdom  even 
the  local  officials,  elected,  indeed,  at  their  direction. 
Their  policy  was  to  allow  the  guard  or  presidio  troops 
to  inspire  fear  by  prompt  chastisement  of  offenses,  while 
they  interposed  as  mediators  and  protectors.  This 
policy  of  threatened  vengeance  on  the  one  side,  and 
paternal  love  on  the  other,  sustained  the  ascendency 
of  friar  influence,  and  served  to  restrain  disobedience 
and  outbreaks,  so  that  military  operations  were  rarely 
called  for,  except  against  roaming  marauders. 

Under  the  regulation  of  1781  it  was  proposed  to 
complete  a  line  of  equi-distant  missions  along  the 
coast,  before  planting  a  second  interior  line,  and  to  try 
a  system  of  conversion  among  the  established  villages 
of  the  Santa  Barbara  channel,  without  forming  mis 
sion  communities,  or  giving  temporary  power  to  the 
friars ;  but  to  the  latter  scheme  the  ecclesiastics  pre 
sented  so  obstinate  though  quiet  a  resistance  that  it 
was  finally  abandoned.  Industrial  training  and  con 
trol  of  food  resources  were  essential  to  conversion  and 
reform,  they  argued.  With  armies  of  serfs  to  herd 
cattle,  till  the  soil,  and  build  churches,  the  missions 
prospered,  and  the  bishop,  residing  in  Sonora,  joined 
greedily  with  the  temporal  authorities  in  urging  the 
commencement  of  secularization,  but  ecclesiastical 
diplomacy  prevailed. 

The  able,  patriotic,  and  dignified  Governor  Neve 
was  promoted  to  the  Provincias  Internas  in  1781, 
where  he  succeeded  to  the  chief  command,  a  position 
second  only  to  that  of  the  viceroy.  Through  the 
influence  of  his  wife's  family,  Colonel  Fages  was  now 


SUCCESSION  OF  GOVERNORS.  7 

restored  to  California,  with  feelings  toward  the  padres 
softened .  by  a  benevolent  piety,  yet  not  altogether 
able  to  avoid  their  displeasure  at  his  honest  devotion 
to  duty.  He  therefore  resigned,  and  was  followed  in 
1791  by  Lieutenant-colonel  J.  A.  Romeu,  who  had 
served  under  him,  and  who  possessed  especial  qualifi 
cations  for  financial  affairs,  so  rare  among  California 
officers.  Unfortunately,  he  fell  ill,  and  died  within  a 
year.  He  was  succeeded,  after  an  interim  adminis 
tration  under  the  complacent  favorite  of  the  friars, 
Captain  Arrillaga,  by  Colonel  D.  de  Borica,  adjutant- 
inspector  of  presidios  in  Chihuahua,  a  kind  and  jovial 
man,  endowed  with  tact  and  practical  good  sense. 
His  absence,  in  1800,  brought  back  Arrillaga  to  the 
helm  during  the  troublous  period  of  the  Mexican  rev 
olutionary  war.  In  1804  the  peninsula  was  released 
from  the  condition  of  an  aftpcmnLBg^  to  upper  Califor 
nia,  owing  to  distance  and  the  inconvenience  of  trans 
mitting  reports  by  the  circuitous  route  of  Monterey. 

California  was  not  deemed  important  enough  to  be 
directly  affected  by  the  foreign  or  civil  wars  of  Spain, 
but  indirectly  she  suffered  many  ills.  She  was  com 
pelled  to  submit  to  demands  for  contributions  toward 
the  war  fund,  and  many  a  false  alarm  kept  her  in  sus 
pense,  attended  by  elaborate  defence  measures,  such 
as  strengthening  the  feeble  fortifications,  and  the  or 
ganization  of  a  militia  in  1806.  The  intrusion  of 
English  traders  on  the  northwest  coast  led  to  the 
Nootka  squabble  in  1788-90,  which  opened  the  door 
to  the  United  States,  and  brought  forward  the  grad 
ual  limitation  of  Spanish  sway  to  the  south  of  lati 
tude  42°. 

The  Russians  were  similarly  restricted  to  the  north 
of  54°  40',  yet  with  an  appreciation  of  the  fur  re 
sources  southward,  which  to  them  were  the  all- 
important  inducement,  they  visited  California  in  their 

search  for  other  hunting  grounds,  and  thus  becoming 

t  •      i 

acquainted  with   her   agricultural  wealth,  perceived 

the  advantage  of  procuring  their  staple  provisions  at 


8  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

a  market  so  much  nearer  and  cheaper  than  those 
hitherto  patronized.  The  preoccupation  of  Spain  in 
European  wars  had  led  to  a  neglect  of  California's 
interests,  and  to  a  reduction  of  her  garrisons,  so  that 
it  was  not  difficult  to  persuade  the  governor  to  permit 
an  infringement  of  the  stringent  laws  against  for 
eign  trade.  This  arranged,  it  became  convenient  for 
the  Russian- American  company  to  establish  a  station 
in  proximity  to  the  bay,  Bodega  being  selected  as  the 
site  in  1809;  and  here  they  sustained  themselves  in 
face  of  all  protests,  relying  on  Spanish  weakness,  and 
subsequently  on  Mexican  preoccupation  in  civil  wars. 
Some,  indeed,  attempted  ix/lay  claim  to  territorial 
ownership  by  virtue  of  this  long  occupation,  but  the 
tzar  felt  no  inclination  to  burden  himself  with  so  re 
mote  and  isolated  a  region,  and  thus  in  1841  the 
Russians  abandoned  a  post  which  had  become  unprof 
itable.  Their  suspected  design  had  meanwhile  led  to 
the  foundation  on  the  north  side  of  the  bay  of  two 
missions  and  a  fort,  to  uphold  the  Spanish  title,  and 
expeditions  had  been  sent  to  explore  the  interior  val 
leys,  up  the  Sacramento  and  to  Trinity  river. 

The  effect  of  the  Mexican  revolution  against  Spain 
was  first  observed  in  preliminary  political  concessions 
by  the  mother  country,  such  as  representation  in  the 
cdrtes,  of  which  no  use  was  made  by  California. 
Then  came  the  stoppage  of  money  and  supplies  for 
the  garrisons,  a  hardship  affecting  all  classes.  The 
settlers,  and  especially  the  missions,  were  called  upon 
to  furnish  provisions  against  treasury  orders  which 
were  never  paid,  and  forbidden  to  accept  the  tempt 
ing  offers  of  traders  hovering  about  the  coast.  The 
padres  lost  their  stipends,  but  none  suffered  as  did 
the  soldiers,  who  were  confined  to  garrison  duty  upon 
scanty  rations  and  in  tattered  uniform,  forbidden  to 
complain  or  to  retire  to  country  life.  Under  such 
privations  the  restrictions  against  foreign  intercourse 
could  not  be  maintained.  Friars  and  colonists  has 
tened  to  exchange  their  surplus  grain,  and  particularly 


SOLA'S  ADMINISTRATION.  9 

V 

hides  and  tallow,  for  the  hardware,  dry  goods,  and 
fancy  articles  of  the  trading  vessels,  now  increasing  in 
numbers.  Even  officials  openly  engaged  in  the  traffic 
with  their  own  or-  the  presidial  property,  or  such 
as  could  be  obtained  by  forced  levies  upon  the 
missions. 

These  irregularities,  together  with  the  Russian  en 
croachment,  induced  the  viceregal  government,  during 
an  interval  of  success  against  the  insurgents,  to  furnish 
a  few  supplies,  and  to  install,  in  1815,  a  more  capable 
governor  at  Monterey  in  the  person  of  Lieutenant- 
colonel  P.  V.  de  Sola,  lately  habilitado-general  for 
the  province.  The  rule  of  the  devout  and  popular 
Arrillaga,  who  died  in  1814,  had  been  somewhat  too 
apathetic  to  please  his  superiors,  and  his  lieutenant, 
J.  Argiiello,  who  succeeded  him,  was  transferred  to  the 
peninsula,  partly  on  account  of  his  wrongly  suspected 
disloyalty. 

Sola  took  prompt  measures  to  carry  out  his  orders 
for  restricting  traffic,  but  the  pressing  wants  of  the 
troops,  and  the  resolute  though  passive  resistance  of 
the  inhabitants  compelled  him  to  yield.  Rather  than 
countenance  the  loss  of  revenue  by  smuggling  he  per 
mitted  trade,  subject  to  an  import  and  export  duty, 
which  did  much  toward  covering  military  expenses. 
An  additional  sum  was  obtained  by  forced  requisi 
tions  upon  the  missions  and  settlements.  The  re 
moval  of  commercial  restrictions  gave  an  impulse  to 
stock-raising  and  farming,  and  opened  an  era  of  pros 
perity,  despite  the  pressure  of  a  heavy  presidio  estab 
lishment,  wherein  was  vested  all  authority,  even  over 
local  communities ;  for  the  friars,  as  well  as  the  hon 
orary  village  officials,  could  do  little  or  nothing  with 
out  gubernatorial  sanction.  On  the  other  hand,  this 
intercourse,  with  its  free  interchange  of  commodities, 
served  to  blight  the  industrial  revival  inaugurated  by 
Borica.  Immigration  from  Mexico  ceased,  and  with 
it  the  influx  of  desirable  artisans.  The  incipient  en 
terprise  among  the  mission  Indians  also  disappeared, 


10  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

or  was  diverted  into  channels  promising  more  imme- 
date  and  tangible  results. 

The  revolutionary  period,  however,  did  not  pass 
without  disturbing  for  a  time  California's  tranquility. 
Privateers  were  creeping  along  the  Spanish- Ameri 
can  coasts,  and  their  presence,  indeed,  had  much  to  do 
with  the  absence  of  supply  vessels.  The  rumors  of 
wealth  circulated  by  trafficking  missionaries  failed 
not  to  reach  the  ears  of  this  fraternity,  and  in  No 
vember  1818  two  vessels  under  H.  Bouchard  came  to 
gather  spoils.  Warned  by  reports  from  the  Hawaiian 
islands,  steps  had  been  taken  for  defence,  and  for 
hiding  or  carrying  into  the  interior  all  portable  goods, 
so  that  the  marauders  were  not  only  disappointed  in 
their  expectation  of  booty,  but  on  entering  Monterey 
for  supplies  were  severely  handled  by  the  batteries. 
The  enraged  Bouchard  thereupon  revenged  himself 
by  capturing  the  town  and  giving  it  up  to  pillage,  to 
gether  with  some  other  points  to  the  southward. 

The  worst  effects  of  this  raid  came  in  the   form  of 
V  reinforcements  from  Mexico,  consisting  of  disorderly 

troops,  which  swelled  the  garrisons  from  about  four 
hundred  to  seven  hundred  men,  and  imposed  an  addi 
tional  burden  upon  the  people ;  for  no  supplies  accom 
panied  the  influx,  and  only  a  trifling  instalment  upon 
the  heavy  debt  now  due  from  the  royal  treasury  could 
be  obtained.  Meanwhile  continued  alarms  kept  the 
militia  and  Indian  contingents  constantly  under  arms. 

To  the  missions  was  due  for  provisions  nearly  half 
a  million  of  dollars,  not  counting  the  long  arrears  of 
stipends  and  goods.  The  consequent  discontent  of 
the  friars,  notwithstanding  their  prosperity,  was  in 
creased  by  a  change  in  the  management,  which 
brought  them  more  directly  under  control  of  the  or 
der  in  Spain,  and  demanded  a  closer  observance  of 
the  rules  for  humility  and  poverty,  to  the  discarding 
of  carriages,  watches,  and  other  luxuries,  corrupting 
alike  to  themselves  and  to  their  flock.  The  reform 
seemed  the  more  severe  after  a  long  period  of  indul- 


CANON  FERNANDEZ.  11 

gence,  and  in  addition  came  a  secularization  decree 
from  the  cortes.  The  paH^es  professed  themselves 
ready  to  obey,  but  were  fully  aware  that  the  bishop 
had  no  priests  to  take  their  place. 

The  proposed  innovations  under  the  new  liberal 
constitution  forced  from  Spain  were  supplanted  by 
decisive  measures  from  Mexico.  Iturbide,  the  lead 
ing  royalist  general,  had  in  1821  passed  over  to  the 
insurgents,  and  declared  for  a  revival  of  the  ancient 
Mexican  empire  under  a  Spanish  prince.  The  hesita 
tion  of  the  king  to  concede  autonomy  for  its  principal 
American  colony  opened  the  way  for  the  general's 
ambition;  and  sustained  by  his  devoted  troops,  he 
proclaimed  himself  emperor,  under  the  title  of  Agus- 
tin  I. 

Tired  of  Spain's  continued  neglect,  the  Californians 
had  promptly  recognized  the  change,  and  affirmed  it 
by  selecting  Governor  Sola  as  deputy  to  the  imperial 
parliament.  Mexico  had  not  expected  such  readiness  in 
a  province  regarded  as  a  mission  field,  and  conse 
quently  under  the  control  of  loyal  Spanish  friars. 
Canon  Fernandez,  a  jovial  demagogue,  was  therefore 
dispatched  to  win  over  the  people,  and  report  upon 
their  attitude  and  resources.  He  permitted  the  re 
cent  electoral  body  to  constitute  itself  an  assembly, 
and  the  leading  towns  to  choose  a  more  formal  and 
complete  local  government  than  had  before  existed. 
In  addition  to  this  flattering  concession  he  granted 
the  assembly  the  privilege  of  appointing  Captain  L. 
Argtiello,  a  Californian,  to  succeed  the  departing  dep 
uty  Sola  as  governor.  The  selection  was  naturally 
distasteful  to  the  influential  Spanish  minority,  which 
thus  far  had  controlled  affairs,  but  nevertheless  it  was 
deemed  politic. 

The  revulsion  among  both  classes  favored  the  inau 
guration  of  republican  rule  hi  1823.  In  Mexico  the 
long  revolutionary  war  had  fostered  the  democratic 
ideas  implanted  by  the  example  of  the  United  States 
and  of  France,  and  given  birth  to  a  numerous  brood 


12  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

of  aspirants  for  spoils  and  power.  The  arbitrary  mis 
management  of  Iturbide  gained  for  them  the  needful 
sympathy  with  the  masses ;  and  so  was  overthrown 
the  empire,  and  the  republic  proclaimed,  which  during 
the  next  half  century  was  to  become  the  theatre  of 
civil  strife. 

California  was  made  a  territory  under  a  jefe-poli- 
tico,  whose  authority  was  curtailed  only  in  military 
matters,  now  chiefly  delegated  to  a  special  coman- 
dante,  with  forces  reduced  to  less  than  four  hundred 
men.  The  assembly  continued  to  figure  as  a  d^puta- 
cion  with  seven  members,  half  of  them  elected  anrm~ 
ally  ;  yet  it  acted  merely  at  irregular  intervals  and  as 
a  gubernatorial  council,  in  minor  economic  matters, 
rather  than  as  a  law-making  body.  The  representa 
tive  to  congress  had  no  vote,  and  for  several  years 
not  even  a  seat  or  voice.  The  comisionados  at  the 
pueblos  lost  their  authority,  and  the  election  of 
alcaldes,  regidores,  and  attached  officials,  although 
controlled  by  a  few  leading  men,  excited  much  in 
terest.  With  these  rested  the  administration  of  jus 
tice,  for  no  competent  judges  were  appointed  during 
the  first  decade.  A  legal  adviser  was  in  due  time 
provided  for  the  governor,  and  the  federal  authorities 
took  care  to  appoint  the  necessary  treasury  and  cus 
tom-house  officials. 

The  wise  and  liberal  rule  of  Arguello  was  in  1825 
replaced  by  that  of  a  Mexican  governor,  Lieutenant- 
colonel  J.  M.  Echeandia,  who  assumed  the  military 
command,  and  for  his  health's  sake  selected  San 
Diego  as  his  residence.  He  lacked  energy  and  reso 
lution,  and  displayed  an  inefficiency  in  the  administra 
tion  of  justice  and  the  enforcement  of  discipline  which 
provoked  much  hostility.  As  a  republican  he  fa 
vored  secularization,  and  came  quickly  in  antagonism 
with  the  friars,  who  refused  to  acknowledge  the 
federal  constitution.  The  diputacion  would  gladly 
have  joined  in  despoiling  them,  but  the  governor  ab- 


CAUSES  OF  DISCONTENT.  13 

stained  from  so  radical  a  measure,  partly  through 
fear  lest  the  missionaries  should  retire,  and  by  with 
drawing  their  control  over  the  Indians  prompt  the 
latter  to  renew  the  outbreaks  of  the  preceding  year, 
when  three  missions  rose  against  the  troops,  and 
but  for  the  interference  of  the  friars  others  would 
probably  have  joined,  and  rendered  the  incident  more 
serious. 

The  general  feeling  was  further  excited  by  the  re 
vival  of  convict  immigration ;  by  the  decree  of  expul 
sion  against  the  Spaniards,  although  not  enforced  in 
California ;  by  the  subordinate  position  assigned  by 
the  governor  to  the  assembly ;  by  the  contemptuous 
treatment  of  the  congressional  deputy,  and  by  the 
indifference  of  the  federal  authorities  toward  the 
province,  which  was  left  to  its  own  resources  in  meet 
ing  the  annual  expenditure  estimated  at  about  $130,- 
000.  The  actual  revenue  reached  only  half  that 
amount,  even  under  favorable  circumstances. 

The  deficiencies  in  the  revenue  led  alse  to  defection 
among  the  troops,  who,  in  1827  broke  out  in  mutiny. 
In  the  following  year  the  contador  instigated  a  revolt 
in  favor  of  Californian  officials,  under  the  leadership 
of  a  convict  named  Solis,  whose  incapacity  proved  the 
main  cause  of  failure.  With  such  intriguing  among 
the  federal  representatives,  the  interests  of  the  gov 
ernment  were  further  slighted  through  disregard  of 
its  laws  and  instructions;  and  not  only  was  the 
revenue  subjected  to  much  dishonest  manipulation, 
but  smuggling  met  with  official  connivance,  being 
encouraged  also  by  the  capricious  opening  and  closing 
of  ports,  and  by  the  arrangement  under  which  foreign 
vessels  could,  after  a  first  call  at  Monterey,  peddle 
their  cargoes  from  point  to  point  with  little  or  no 
supervision. 

The  missions  remained  as  before  a  prey  to  office 
holders,  subject  to  all  manner  of  arbitrary  levies,  ex 
actions,  and  loans,  without  pretence  of  repayment. 
Secularization  was  partially  introduced  as  a  means  to 


14  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

this  end,  finding  many  advocates  even  among  the 
neophytes,  whom  the  friars  had  purposely  left  in  utter 
ignorance.  In  1830  the  supreme  authorities  were  be 
guiled  by  politicians  into  passing  a  secularization  de 
cree  for  the  province,  to  be  carried  out  by  J.  M. 
Padres.  Eager  for  his  share  in  the  prospective 
spoils,  the  governor  hastened  to  anticipate  the  meas 
ure  by  a  similar  plan  of  his  own. 

Alarmed,  meanwhile,  by  the  discontent  and  irregu 
larities  in  California,  the  federal  government  appointed 
a  new  governor  in  the  person  of  Lieutenant-colonel 
M.  Victoria,  a  brave  and  honest  man,  and  long  com 
mandant  in  the  peninsula,  but  somewhat  of  a  marti 
net.  He  arrived  in  1831,  and  promptly  put  a  stop  to 
the  projected  raid  upon  the  mission  property,  refusing 
to  convene  the  assembly  which  had  declared  in  favor 
of  it.  A  strict  disciplinarian,  he  prepared  to  suppress 
the  lawlessness  which  had  now  become  rampant,  and 
did  not  hesitate  to  arraign  even  alcaldes  before  courts- 
martial.  Foiled  in  their  aspirations  for  plunder,  the 
Californians  chose  to  regard  his  salutary  measures  as 
an  outrage,  doubly  oppressive  as  emanating  from  the 
unwelcome  agent  of  a  remote,  indifferent,  and  even 
tyrannical  authority.  Some  of  the  officials  whom  he 
had  exiled  availed  themselves  of  the  ill-feeling  to  re 
turn  and  kindle  a  revolt,  which  was  aided  by  the  late 
governor,  Echeandfa.  The  disaffected  troops  of  course 
participated,  and  Victoria  was  easily  defeated  and 
driven  from  the  country. 

The  assembly  now  sought  to  assert  itself  by  choos 
ing  a  ruler,  but  Echeandfa  objected.  The  result  was 
that  the  northern  districts  seceded  from  the  compact 
made  with  him,  and  appealed  to  Mexico.  The  ad 
ministration  then  in  power  happened  to  have  at  its 
disposal  a  man  of  tact  and  ability,  the  brigadier  Jose 
Figueroa,  one  too  prominent,  indeed,  for  so  remote  a 
post,  but  whom  it  was  desired  to  remove.  Arriving 
in  California  with  discretionary  power  to  promote  the 
interests  of  the  country,  in  secularization,  trade,  and 


SECULARIZATION.  15 

general  development,  he  applied  himself  so  earnestly 
to  the  task  as  to  harmonize  all  the  opposing  elements 
and  produce  an  era  of  hitherto  unparalleled  prosperity, 
outside  of  the  missions.  He  organized  local  councils 
at  several  of  the  settlements,  pushed  forward  occupa 
tion  to  the  north  side  of  the  bay,  freely  distributed 
grants  for  the  extension  of  agriculture,  released  the 
people  from  the  payment  of  tithes,  and  against  his 
own  interest,  advocated  the  separation  of  the  military 
and  civil  commands. 

In  connection  with  the  Mexican  decree  of  secu 
larization  a  plan  was  framed  for  establishing  colo 
nies,  for  which  purpose  the  property  of  the  missions 
was  to  be  used  in  providing  seed,  implements,  live 
stock,  and  provisions  sufficient  for  the  first  year. 
Two  hundred  and  fifty  persons  were  induced  by  this 
opportunity,  combined  with  the  offer  of  land-grants, 
to  remove  to  the  territory  in  1834,  under  care  of 
Padres  and  Hijar,  who  had  been  appointed  military 
and  civil  successors  toFigueroa.  Their  appointments 
being  countermanded,  however,  the  governor  con 
sidered  that  he  had  the  power  to  interpose  and  save 
the  missions  and  neophytes  from  the  depredations  of 
the  incoming  strangers,  greatly  to  the  delight  of  the 
Californians,  who  regarded  the  prey  as  purely  their 
own.  Sufficient  aid  was  granted  to  keep  the  immi 
grants  from  starvation  until  they  could  settle  or  find 
occupation,  though  a  few,  who  appeared  to  be  con 
spiring,  were  sent  out  of  the  country  in  company  with 
their  two  leaders. 

Shortly  afterward  Figueroa  died,  his  name  being 
remembered  as  that  of  one  of  the  benefactors  of 
California,  and  as  the  best  governor  who  had  ever 
directed  the  affairs  of  the  province.  He  had  begun 
secularization,  not  on  a  general  and  ruinous  plan,  but 
by  gradual  emancipation  at  the  most  advanced  mis 
sions.  The  friars  responded  by  showing  a  total  dis 
regard  for  the  estates  intrusted  to  them  and  for  their 
neophytes,  hastening  to  secure  a  portion  of  the  spoils 


16  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

by  slaughtering  cattle  and  selling  the  hides.  The 
Californians  joined  in  the  scramble,  and  became  so 
impressed  with  the  benefits  of  self  rule  that  the 
new  governor,  Colonel  M.  Chico,  encountered  from 
the  first  a  current  of  unpopularity  which  he  wanted 
the  tact  or  ability  to  overcome ;  even  the  troops  and 
friars  took  part  against  him,  and  within  a  few  months 
he  was  forced  to  retire. 

The  people  were  unanimously  in  favor  of  state  gov 
ernment  under  their  own  officials,  since  the  supreme 
authorities  persisted  in  not  only  neglecting  them,  but 
imposing  obnoxious  burdens  in  the  shape  of  haughty 
representatives  and  disorderly  troops  to  eat  up  their 
substance.  This  feeling  had  been  greatly  stimulated 
by  foreigners,  who  had  of  late  begun  to  arrive  in  con 
siderable  numbers,  encouraged  by  offers  of  land  and 
the  prospect  of  intermarriage  with  the  best  families. 

The  leading  spirit  in  the  movement  was  J.  B. 
Alvarado,  president  of  the  assembly,  an  ardent  young 
Californian,  popular  with  all  classes,  of  much  practi 
cal  ability  and  shrewdness,  and  a  man  of  progressive 
ideas.  Flattered  by  their  successes  against  Victoria 
and  Chico,  his  supporters  resolved  to  be  rid  also  of 
N.  Gutierrez,  who,  after  the  governor's  departure, 
had  assumed  charge  for  the  new  central  ad 
ministration  of  Mexico.  Centralism  implied  a 
still  greater  degree  of  hateful  subordination,  and 
they  determined  to  resist  it.  Aided  by  foreigners 
they  soon  compelled  him,  together  with  several 
score  of  Mexicans,  to  follow  his  predecessor,  and 
leave  the  command  to  Jose  Castro,  then  president  of 
the  assembly.  The  foreign  element  advocated  inde 
pendence,  in  imitation  of  Texas;  but  the  fear  of  its 
ascendency  restrained  the  more  conservative  of  the 
community ;  nevertheless  California  was  proclaimed  a 
state,  and  the  assembly  raised  to  the  dignity  of  a 
congress.  Alvarado  was  named  governor,  and  for 
commandant  at  Sonoma,  M.  G.  Vallejo,  the  richest 
and  most  influential  man  in  the  north,  who,  while  not 


GOVERNOR  ALVARADO.  17 

participating  very  actively  in  the  revolution,  neverthe 
less  held  the  balance  of  power  in  the  state.  The  mili 
tia  was  reorganized,  and  several  reforms  instituted, 
particularly  in  the  finance  department. 

Juan  Bautista  Alvarado  was  born  at  Monterey 
February  14,  1809,  the  son  of  a  sergeant  who  died 
during  tVe  same  year.  Observant  and  quick  to  learn, 
he  made  the  most  of  the  few  books  and  the  rudimentary 
education  to  be  obtained  in  an  isolated  frontier  prov 
ince.  Association  with  foreigners  assisted  to  enlarge 
his  information,  sharpen  his  wits,  and  instil  a  prac 
tical  energy  which  was  rare  among  his  countrymen. 
An  early  training  in  the  office  of  Governor  Sola, 
and  as  clerk  to  traders,  enabled  him  to  enter  upon 
his  public  career  in  the  eighteenth  year  as  secretary 
to  the  provincial  assembly.  In  1834  he  exchanged 
this  position  for  an  inspectorship  in  the  custom 
house.  At  the  same  time  he  availed  himself  of  the 
popularity  acquired  in  his  official  capacity,  and  as  a 
genial,  affable  man  of  recognized  talent  and  good 
character,  to  gain  a  seat  in  the  diputacion.  The  ab 
sence  of  the  eldest  vocal  placed  him  second  on  the  list 
to  the  president,  and  gave  weight  to  his  plans  against 
Gutierrez,  and  his  position  as  leader  among  the  younger 
Californians  and  also  of  the  revolution  procured  for  him 
the  governorship,  the  highest  possible  honor  within 
the  province.  After  a  rule  of  six  years  he  retired, 
with  the  rank  of  colonel  in  the  Mexican  army.  As  a 
reward  for  joining  two  years  later  in  the  revolution 
which  ousted  his  Mexican  successor,  he  was  intrusted 
by  the  new  provincial  governor,  Pico,  with  the  man 
agement  of  the  Monterey  custom-house.  Although 
elected  representative  to  the  congress  at  Mexico,  he 
did  not  attend  its  sessions,  nor  did  he  pay  much  at 
tention  to  his  appointment  from  that  quarter  as  adju 
tant  inspector  of  the  California  presidio  companies. 
During  the  American  invasion  he  remained,  indeed, 
almost  inactive,  under  parole,  and  subsequently  lived 


C.  B.— I*.    2 


18  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

in  retirement,  chiefly  on  the  estate  of  San  Pablo,  in 
herited  by  his  wife,  Martina  Castro,  by  whom  he  had 
several  children.  Although  forced  by  circumstances 
to  have  recourse  to  intrigue,  to  waste  his  efforts  and  the 
public  property  in  political  struggles  and  campaigns, 
and  to  countenance  many  impositions  among  subordi 
nates,  he  was  personally  animated  by  patriotic  and 
honest  motives,  which  lifted  him  above  sordid  consid 
erations,  and  were  strongly  reflected  in  his  career. 

Mariano  Guadalupe  Vallejo  was  the  son  of  a  ser 
geant  in  the  California  presidio  service,  who  by  virtue 
of  his  pure  Spanish  blood  and  family  name  enjoyed 
the  title  of  don  and  distinguido.  This  position  pro 
cured  for  the  son  admission  into  the  Monterey  com 
pany  as  cadet  in  1823,  in  his  fifteenth  year.  The 
aspirations  imbibed  from  a  proud  though  less  cultured 
father  had  endeared  to  him  the  military  profession, 
and  prompted  him  to  prepare  for  the  position 
by  supplementing  the  scanty  education  obtainable  in 
his  native  town  of  Monterey  with  the  study  of  all  the 
books  within  his  reach.  After  four  years  of  training 
he  was  promoted  to  alferez  of  the  San  Francisco  com 
pany,  yet  acted  as  habilitado  and  comandante  of  both 
companies,  sharing  in  their  campaigns  against  Indians. 
Elected  a  member  of  the  diputacion  in  1830,  he  took 
an  active  part  in  opposition  to  Victoria,  and  was  in 
1834  rewarded  with  the  election  of  diputado  suplente 
to  the  congress  at  Mexico,  although  not  called  upon 
to  sit. 

A  favorite  of  Governor  Figueroa,  he  received  from 
him  a  large  grant  north  of  the  bay  of  San  Francisco, 
the  commission  to  secularize  the  mission  of  Solano, 
and  to  found  the  military  post  of  Sonoma,  and  there  to 
act  as  director  of  colonization,  and  as  comandante  of 
the  northern  frontier,  with  the  military  rank  of  lieu 
tenant.  Bound  to  this  new  field  by  public  and  private 
interests,  he  strove  energetically  to  promote  its  settle 
ment  and  unfolding,  and  so  successfully  that  by  1836 
he  had  become  in  many  respects  the  most  powerful 


GENERAL  VALLEJO.  19 

man  in  the  province,  and  certainly  the  most  inde 
pendent. 

The  mere  weight  of  his  name  was  sufficient  to  make 
him  courted  by  and  indispensable  to  the  new  Califor 
nia  party,  and  the  position  of  comandante-general  was 
conceded  to  his  passive  influence  rather  than  to  his 
services  or  popularity.  He  prudently  abstained  from 
injuring  his  prestige  by  too  familiar  intercourse  or  by 
meddling  in  southern  affairs,  and  his  reserved  and 
somewhat  haughty  demeanor,  inspired  by  family 
name  and  wealth  no  less  than  by  military  training 
and  official  rank,  tended  to  make  him  more  respected 
than  liked.  As  a  mere  lieutenancy  did  not  well  ac 
cord  with  his  new  position  of  general,  he  was  created 
a  colonel  of  cavalry  by  the  California  authorities,  and 
Mexico  responded  in  a  measure  by  advancing  him,  in  ., 

1838,  to  the  rank  of  Captain  of  the  company  and 
colonel  of  defensores,  while  recognizing  his  position  as 
comandante  militar.  This  latter  jurisdiction  was  con 
firmed  under  the  succeeding  Mexican  governor,  to 
gether  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel,  and  an 
additional  land  grant. 

In  return  for  his  favorable  attitude  toward  the 
United  States  and  their  immigrants,  he  was  allowed 
a  proportion  of  his  claims  for  losses  during  the  inva 
sion,  and  given  a  commission  as  colonel,  with  the  ap 
pointments  of  Indian  agent  and  legislative  councillor, 
besides  being  elected  to  the  constitutional  convention 
and  first  state  senate.  His  grants  of  land  were  only 
partially  confirmed,  but  nevertheless  they  formed  a 
magnificent  domain,  the  value  of  which  he  sought  to 
increase  by  promoting  the  foundation  of  Benicia  and 
Vallejo,  the  former  being  named  in  honor  of  his  wife. 
The  effort  to  make  the  latter  the  permanent  capital  of 
the  state  proved  a  disastrous  failure ;  yet  the  selection 
of  the  site  for  a  commercial  centre  was  judicious,  and 
its  growth  has  endorsed  the  judgment  of  its  founder. 

The  general  .henceforth  lived  in  modest  retirement 
at  Sonoma,  where  he  directed  the  education  of  the 


20  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

thirteen  children  born  to  him  by  Francisca  Benicia, 
daughter  of  Joaquin  Carrillo,  whom  he  married  in 
1832.  He  still  appear^  occasionally  in  public  life, 
as  the  foremost  representative  of  Spanish-Californians. 
Intercourse  with  strangers,  and  diminished  wealth 
and  power^  JJSRSC  tended  to  soften  the  former  pride  and 
exclusiveness,  and  though  still  retaining  a  marked 
formality  of  manner  and  speech,  he  now  rank£_as  the 
chosen  favorite  among  his  countrymen,  and  j^- gener 
ally  esteemed  also  by  Americans  for  his  high  sense^oT" 
honor,  his  generosity  and  refinement,  and  his  unsullied 
public  record. 

The  revolution  had  transferred  nearly  all  political 
advantage  to  the  northern  districts.  At  this  the 
long-favored  south  took  umbrage ;  and  finding  no  dis 
position  to  make  Los  Angeles  the  seat  of  government, 
proclaimed  there  the  local  council  as  the  supreme 
authority,  reporting  in  the  meantime  to  Mexico  that 
the  north  was  yielding  to  foreign  designs.  Both  sides 
took  to  arms.  In  the  midst  of  the  conflict  an  emis 
sary  arrived  from  Mexico,  and  appealed  to  Alvarado, 
as  the  most  powerful  leader,  persuading  him  to  accept 
centralism  as  the  price  of  confirmation  for  himself  and 
Vallejo.  Before  the  agent  returned  to  Mexico  the  gov 
ernment  had  been  prevailed  upon  by  the  California 
deputy  to  appoint  as  govern  or  C.  Carrillo,  a  southerner, 
who  was  promptly  installed  by  his  district.  Still 
hoping  for  his  own  confirmation,  Alvarado  held  his 
ground,  confident  that  the  party  in  power  would  be 
recognized  by  the  distracted  administration  in  Mexico. 
The  south  fully  understood  the  danger  of  delay,  and 
once  more  took  the  field.  Alvarado  gained  suffi 
cient  advantage  at  first  to  cajole  the  vacillating  Car 
rillo  into  inaction,  and  as  he  had  anticipated,  was 
confirmed  in  office,  the  latter  being  appeased  with  a 
large  land  grant,  and  the  emissary  rewarded  with 
a  seat  in  congress. 


ALVARADO  AND  VALLEJO.  21 

The  civil  war  gave  the  finishing  blow  to  the  mis 
sions.  It  favored  the  absorption  of  their  property 
under  the  additional  guise  of  labor  loans.  The  ad 
ministration  of  this  property  was  mainly  in  the  hands 
of  partisans,  without  due  supervision,  who  took  their 
share  from  the  forced  contributions,  and  loaned  or 
transferred  live-stock  and  implements-,  and  even  the 
Indians,  to  friendly  rancheros,  leaving  the  friars  and 
neophytes  to  shift  as  best  they  could.  The  govern 
ment  at  Mexico  dissipated  in  like  manner  the  pious 
fund,  which  had  so  largely  served  to  sustain  the  mis 
sions  in  colonial  days;  so  that,  when  in  1839  a  bishop 
was  appointed  for  California,  with  the  power  to  ad 
minister  the  fund,  it  had  virtually  disappeared.  Nor 
could  the  prelate  obtain  his  salary ;  and  as  tithes  were 
abolished,  he  had  to  subsist  on  scanty  contributions. 
In  1843  many  of  the  missions  were  restored  to  the 
friars,  but  by  this  time  they  were  so  impoverished, 
and  the  neophytes  so  dispersed,  that  only  a  few  of 
them  presented  even  a  feeble  prospect  for  their  re 
vival. 

In  Alvarado's  disposition  was  the  making  of  an 
excellent  governor;  but  party  strife  caused  him  grad 
ually  to  abandon  the  management  of  affairs  to  others, 
who  absorbed  most  of  the  funds  for  the  civil  depart 
ments.  At  this  Vallejo  was  annoyed ;  and  alarmed, 
moreover,  at  the  growing  machinations  of  foreigners, 
he  urged  the  government  to  appoint  a  new  ruler,  sus 
tained  by  sufficient  troops  to  defend  the  department. 

The  administration  recognized  the  danger,  and  was 
only  too  glad  to  have  the  country  in  charge  of  its  own 
agents.  Being  more  free  at  the  time  in  its  operations, 
it  was  able  to  spare  over  three  hundred  men,  who 
were  placed  under  the  command  of  General  Michel- 
torena,  as  governor  and  comandante-general,  with  ex 
traordinary  power  to  appoint  officials,  reorganize  the 
presidio  garrisons,  and  take  other  necessary  steps  for 
the  defence  and  welfare  of  the  country.  One  of  his 
first  measures  was  auspicious,  reducing  civil  expenses 


22  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

by  nearly  $40,000;  and  he  arrived  in  1842,  just  in 
time  to  save  the  department,  as  he  claimed,  from  for 
eign  hands. 

In  1840  suspicions  against  foreigners  had  risen  to 
such  a  pitch  that  over  a  hundred  were  arrested,  and 
some  of  them  sent  to  Mexico  for  trial.  No  guilt  was 
proven,  and  several  returned  to  exact  compensation. 
New  arrivals  of  different  nationalities  continued  nev 
ertheless  to  be  welcomed,  and  to  receive  grants,  a 
laro-e  number  collecting  on  the  river  Sacramento, 

O  ^-J  ' 

round  the  fort  founded  in  1839  by  Sutter.  The  ma 
jority  were  immigrants  from  the  United  States,  who 
freely  expressed  the  conviction  that  the  province 
must  ere  long  be  annexed  by  their  people.  The  cab 
inet  at  Washington  had  in  fact  made  an  offer  for  it  in 
the  early  thirties,  and  after  the  Texan  question  em 
broiled  the  two  republics,  the  southern  slave-holding 
states  resolved  to  strengthen  their  position  in  the 
union  by  means  of  territorial  extension.  The  squadron 
in  the  Pacific  had  orders  to  keep  watch  over  the  coast, 
and  in  case  of  war,  or  of  English  attempts  to  gain  a 
foothold,  as  suspected,  possession  for  the  United 
States  should  be  taken.  Thus  it  happened  that  in 
1842  Commodore  Jones  hastened  to  occupy  Monterey 
in  the  belief  that  war  had  been  declared.  Finding 

O 

from  a  newspaper,  which  was  shown  to  him  there, 
that  he  had  been  mistaken,  the  fort  was  promptly  re 
stored,  with  an  apology,  Micheltorena  assuming  for 
his  own  glory  that  the  enemy  had  been  frightened 
,  away  by  his  approach.  The  supreme  government 
now  forbade  the  entry  of  Americans ;  but  the  local 
authorities  considered  the  interdiction  hopeless,  and 
disregarded  it,  the  governor  himself  freely  selling  and 
granting  lands  to  them. 

Micheltorena  did  not  justify  the  expectation  formed 
in  regard  to  him.  He  soon  lapsed  into  careless  indo 
lence,  which  won  a  certain  popularity,  although  not 
enough  to  overcome  the  ridicule  provoked  by  his 
bluster  in  the  Jones  affair,  nor  to  condone  for  the 


MICHELTORENA  AND  PICO.  23 

lawless  acts  of  his  soldiers,  composed  mostly  of  va 
grants  and  convicts,  and  driven  by  want  to  plunder  the 
settlers.  Less  than  two  years  of  this  imposition  suf 
ficed  to  revive  the  dislike  for  Mexican  officials,  and  the 
love  for  self-rule,  together  with  the  handling  of  revenue. 
The  first  revolt  was  allayed  with  the  promise  that 
the  obnoxious  troops  should  be  sent  away.  This  was 
but  a  subterfuge  to  gain  time  for  seeking:  reenforce- 

o  o  o 

ments  in  Mexico,  and  among  the  foreigners  so  widely 
favored  by  Micheltorena.  The  Californians  rallied 
once  more,  at  the  call  of  the  assembly,  which  im 
peached  the  general,  and  proclaimed  governor  their 
senior  member,  Pio  Pico.  The  foreigners  were  per 
suaded  to  withdraw,  and  thus  bereft  of  his  main  prop, 
Micheltorena  yielded,  and  departed  with  most  of  his 
men,  a  rather  sorry  figure. 

The  Texan  imbroglio  left  the  Mexican  government 
no  alternative  save  to  approve,  and  as  success  had 
been  achieved  this  time  by  the  south,  Los  Angeles 
rose  again  as  the  capital ;  but  Monterey  remained 
the  military  and  financial  centre,  and  Jose  Castro,  the 
comandante-general,  conspired  with  Alvarado  and 
others  to  secure  for  his  department  the  greater  share 
of  the  revenue,  which  for  1845  reached  the  sum  of 
$140,000  from  the  custom-house  alone.  Thus  wrangling 
was  renewed  between  the  two  sections,  to  the  detri 
ment  of  many  projected  reforms,  and  with  the  pros 
pect  of  another  civil  war. 

The  difference  arising  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico  on  account  of  the  attitude  of  the  former 
toward  Texas  manifested  itself  in  California,  as  a 
border  province,  by  precautionary  measures  against 
foreigners  in  general,  and  by  orders  from  the  home 
authorities  for  the  exclusion  of  further  immigrants 
from  the  United  States  in  particular.  This  was  not 
easy  to  accomplish,  however,  and,  indeed,  was  not 
attempted,  favored  as  these  intruders  were  by  a  vast 
unprotected  frontier,  and  by  a  large  number  of  coun- 


24  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

trymen  domiciled  here  and  connected  by  marriage 
and  pecuniary  interests  with  native  Americans. 
Internal  dissensions  and  a  provincial  party-spirit, 
sustained  by  so  many  grievances  against  Mexico, 
likewise  exercised  an  influence  in  checking  a  too 
decided  opposition  against  a  change.  In  addition  to 
all  this  came  secret  support  from  the  government  at 
Washington,  whose  long  meditated  designs  on  the 
Pacific  coast  received  incentive  from  the  rumor  of 
similar  intentions  on  the  part  of  France  and  England. 
The  Mexican  bondholders  in  the  latter  country  were 
at  least  seeking  territorial  indemnity,  and  British  sub 
jects  were  planning  enterprises,  to  be  planted  on 
Mexican  soil. 

The  Monroe  and  manifest  destiny  doctrines  would 
have  sufficed  to  rouse  the  attention  of  the  northern 
republic ;  but  party  schemes  gave  it  additional  mo 
tives  to  prompt  action.  Thomas  O.  Larkin,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  who,  since  his  arrival  at  Monterey  in  1832 
in  his  thirtieth  year,  had  acquired  influence  as  a  gen 
eral  trader,  and  been  appointed  consul  for  his  govern 
ment  in  1843,  was  two  years  later  commissioned 
secret  and  confidential  agent  of  the  administration  at 
Washington,  with  instructions  to  create  a  favorable 
feeling  toward  the  United  States,  and  impress  the 
advantages  of  a  union  with  that  country  ;  to  counter 
act  English  sympathies,  and  to  keep  his  government 
fully  informed  concerning  the  turn  of  aflaias.  Larkin 
devoted  himself  to  the  charge  with  tact  and  zeal,  al 
though  thwarted  somewhat  by  the  indiscretion  and 
ambition  of  his  later  associates. 

Their  several  successful  revolutions,  the  separation 
of  Texas  and  the  dissensions  and  weakness  of  Mex 
ico,  had  impressed  upon  Californians  the  possibility  of 
a  speedy  change,  to  which  attendant  rise  in  land 
values,  expanding  trade,  and  wider  prosperity  lent 
attractions.  Loyalty  was  weak,  and  independence 
tempting  ;  but  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  autonomy 
was  apparent,  and  inclined  the  more  perspicacious 


.BEXTON'S  SOX-IX-LAW.  25 

either  toward  annexation,  or  in  suspicious  defiance  to 
cling  to  Mexico,  while  a  few  favored  European  inter 
vention  as  the  best  middle  course.  Alvarado  pre 
ferred  the  latter,  and  Governor  Pico  upheld  an  English 
protectorate  as  most  promising  to  his  aspirations  for 
title,  office,  and  wealth,  while  General  Vallejo  favored 
the  strong  arm  of  the  United  States.  At  one  time, 
indeed,  it  was  proposed  to  consider  the  question  in  a 
general  council,  which  did  not  take  effect,  however.  ' 

The  growing  party  was  for  annexation,  and  em 
braced  a  large  proportion  of  the  independents  and  the 
wealthy,  together  with  the  preponderating  and  fast 
increasing  number  of  immigrants.  It  was  fostered 
by  Larkin's  efforts,  by  the  apathy  of  the  people,  by 
love  of  independence,  and  by  the  prospect  that  Euro 
pean  armed  interference  would  afford  but  a  temporary 
remedy,  as  the  United  States  would  never  permit 
permanent  occupation  from  that  quarter. 

It  needed  only  a  spark  to  ignite  the  combustible 
material,  and  that  was  applied  by  Fremont,  a  lieuten 
ant  of  topographical  engineers,  born  in  Georgia  in 
1813,  who  had  been,  by  virtue  of  his  position  as  son- 
in-law  to  Senator  Benton,  entrusted  with  the  survey 
exploring  expeditions  to  the  Pacific  coast  in  1842-5, 
which  brought  him  into  prominence  as  a  so-called 
pathfinder.  The  name  was  bestowed  by  his  ad 
miring  friends,  for  he  himself  claimed  only  to  have 
scientifically  explored  ground  trodden  before,  and  to 
have  criven  official  information  concerning  it,  the  first 

O  O  7 

important  step  in  the  great  transcontinental  surveys. 

His  third  expedition,   the  second  into   California, 

occurred  during  the  troubled    spring   of   1846.     In 

view  of  the  designs  on  the  country,  he  had  received 

O  v    * 

instructions  to  examine  more  widely  and  minutely 
into  its  resources  and  affairs.  The  provincial  author 
ities  of  California  permitted  him  to  halt  and  recruit 
his  party  for  the  proposed  march  to  Oregon.  He 
abused  the  privilege  by  penetrating  into  the  heart  of 
the  province,  close  to  the  bay  of  Monterey,  with  his 


26  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

armed  force  of  60  men.  When  ordered  away  by  the 
alarmed  officials,  he  most  foolishly  and  unjustifiably 
aggravated  the  fault  by  intrenching  himself  at 
Gavilan  peak  on  March  6th,  and  hoisting  his  flag. 
General  Castro  promptly  gathered  200  men  with  a 
view  to  enforce  the  order.  This  brought  Fremont  to 
his  senses.  He  recognized  that  a  collision  might  com 
promise  both  himself  and  his  government,  and  was  at 
least  premature.  Swallowing  his  chagrin,  he  slunk 
away  by  night,  and  abandoned  his  camp  to  the  ex 
ultant  Castro. 

Fremont  had  blunderingly  anticipated  the  wishes 
of  his  principals.  On  the  way  to  Oregon,  now  re 
sumed,  he  was  overtaken  by  Lieutenant  Gillespie,  a 
secret  messenger  from  Washington,  with  instructions 
that,  in  the  event  of  war  with  Mexico,  he  and  Larkin 
should  take  possession  of  California,  and  prevent  any 
occupation  by  a  European  power,  and  conciliate  the 
people  so  as  to  facilitate  such  seizure,  or  win  them 
over  for  voluntary  annexation,  should  no  war  occur. 

Fremont  welcomed  the  message  as  a  carte-blanche 
for  any  liberties  he  might  see  fit  to  take,  in  view  of  a 
seemingly  inevitable  war.  He  longed  to  initiate  so 
important  an  enterprise,  perhaps  to  become  the  leader 
in  an  independent  state,  and  to  fling  back  the  taunts 
cast  upon  his  somewhat  ignoble  retreat.  To  this  end 
he  counted  not  only  on  his  three  score  followers,  but 
on  the  imposing  number  of  adventurers  and  immi 
grants  from  the  states,  who,  inspired  by  Texan  pre 
cepts,  by  the  comparatively  defenceless  condition  of 
the  province,  and  the  long-nursed  doctrines  of  the 
rights  of  the  strongest,  had  been  agitating  the  ex 
pediency  of  adopting  the  course  opened  by  the  lone- 
star  republic.  Numbers  were  attracted  not  alone  by 
the  security,  development,  and  prosperity  foreshad 
owed  by  annexation  to  the  United  States,  but  by 
the  excitement  and  gains  of  a  campaign,  the  glory 
of  figuring  as  liberators,  and  the  honor  and  emolu 
ments  of  office.  They  regarded  themselves  as  strong 


MONT'S  POLICY.  27 


enough  to  withstand  a  blow,  and  perceiving  the  ap 
proaching  opportunity,  looked  about  for  an  excuse  to 
inflict  it.  The  orders  from  Mexico,  to  expel  unauthor 
ized  American  settlers,  although  riot  enforced,  were 
dragged  forward  as  an  impending  outrage,  to  be  ag 
gravated,  it  was  assumed,  by  turning  loose  the  Indians 
upon  them.  The  apparent  ejection  of  Fremont,  and 
the  attendant  armament  and  proclamations  of  Castro 
against  foreigners,  lent  color  to  the  fictitious  alarm, 
and  pointed  at  the  same  time  to  a  leader. 

A  representative  portion  of  the  conspirators  ac 
cordingly  went  to  meet  the  explorer,  whose  plea  of 
scanty  supplies,  mountain  snows,  and  hostile  Indians, 
as  the  reasons  for  his  return,  were  regarded  as  purely 
a  cloak  for  official  intrigues.  Not  yet  prepared  to  un 
mask,  he  nevertheless  encouraged  them  to  begin  oper 
ations,  promising  to  bring  forward  his  men  to  oppose 
any  Californian  troops  sent  against  them.  This  would 
shield  his  government,  and  leave  him  greater  freedom 
to  decide  upon  his  course — to  step  in  the  wake  of 
victory  to  success,  or  to  escape  under  the  guise  of 
neutrality.  The  role  assigned  to  the  United  States 
was  not  very  dignified,  but  the  prize  was  tempting 
and  principles  easy. 

Regardless  of  the  critical  condition  of  affairs,  the 
governor  and  comandante-general  of  the  province 
kept  up  a  quarrel  for  the  supremacy  and  the  control  of 
the  revenue.  By  virtue  of  his  military  force  and  the 
custody  of  the  leading  custom-house,  Castro  secured 
two-thirds  of  the  fund,  on  the  ground  that  the  north 
must  be  guarded  against  the  Americans.  Pressed 
by  his  hungry  supporters,  Pico  enrolled  a  force  of 
100  men,  and  set  forth  to  correct  his  misguided  lieu 
tenant.  Castro  proved  even  more  successful  in  his 
enlistment,  by  calling  for  defenders  of  the  country,  to 
be  used  against  foreign  or  local  foe,  as  circumstances 
might  require.  For  their  equipment  he  sent  to 
Vallejo  for  170  horses.  This  preparation  was  de 
clared  by  the  United  States'  conspirators  to  be  a 


28  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

measure  directed  against  them,  and  at  Fremont's  su<y- 

O  '  O 

gestion  the  band  of  horses  was  pursued  and  captured. 

The  first  step  thus  taken,  on  June  10,  1846,  hesi 
tation  vanished.  Four  days  later  a  party,  barely 
three  dozen  strong,  pounced  upon  Sonoma,  the  only 
military  post  north  of  San  Francisco  bay,  yet  without 
garrison.  They  secured  200  muskets,  nine  cannon, 
and  some  horses,  General  Vallejo  and  his  asso 
ciates  being  sent  as  prisoners  to  Sutter's  fort,  of 
which  Fremont  took  possession.  The  captors,  under 
the  temporary  leadership  of  W.  B.  Ide,  proclaimed 
the  California  republic,  and  hoisted  a  flag  bearing  the 
design  of  the  Texan  lone  star  and  a  grizzly  bear,  the 
United  States'  aegis  not  being  as  yet  authorized.  In 
the  proclamation  plausible  reasons  for  revolt  were 
duly  advanced,  regardless  of  truth,  with  promises  of 
reform  and  protection,  embracing  freedom  from  im 
posts,  involuntary  taxation  and  military  service. 
The  levy  of  forced  loans  served  to  impress  upon  the 
passive  population  the  prospective  value  of  these  uto- 
pian  privileges.  In  answer  to  an  appeal  by  the 
sufferers  the  captain  of  the  United  States'  war  vessel 
Portsmouth  denied  that  the  movement  was  authorized 
by  his  government,  yet  he  sent  supplies  to  Fremont. 

Castro  promptly  issued  a  call  to  arms,  but  so  slow 
was  the  response  that  his  force  increased  to  barely 
160  men  during  the  following  ten  days.  One  of  its 
three  divisions  was  sent  north  in  advance  to  retake 
Sonoma,  but  after  a  skirmish  with  Ide's  party,  being 
unsupported  by  the  remaining  bodies,  it  retreated, 
and  thereby  so  discouraged  the  entire  command,  that 
Castro  fell  back  to  Santa  Clara,  thence  to  urge  on 
Pico  the  necessity  for  conciliation  and  cooperation. 
The  latter  took  advantage  of  the  emergency  to  gain 
followers  to  his  standard  with  a  view  to  obtain  the 
control  of  the  campaign,  but  with  even  less  success 
than  his  rival,  whom  he  thereupon  joined  with  ill 
grace. 

The  first  advance  of  Castro  had  spread  no  little 


THE  REVOLUTION.  29 

alarm  among  the  American  settlers,  particularly  on 
observing  the  neutrality  of  the  war  vessel.  They 
were  losing  confidence  in  Ide,  and  called  therefore 
with  double  reason  on  Fremont  to  redeem  his  prom 
ise.  The  latter  found  himself  bound  to  comply, 
and  set  forth  on  June  23d  for  Sonoma  and  San 
Rafael  without  meeting  a  foe.  He  now  persuaded 
the  commander  of  the  United  States  war  vessel 
Moscow  to  lend  his  aid  in  entering  the  presidio  of 
San  Francisco  and  spiking  its  ten  guns.  After  cel 
ebrating  the  fourth  of  July  the  insurgents  formally 
vested  the  command  in  Fremont.  The  independence 
of  California  was  affirmed,  but  on  reaching  Sutter 
fort  on  July  llth  the  filibuster  captain  learned  that 
rumors  of  a  declaration  of  war,  together  with  his 
overt  acts,  had  encouraged  Commodore  Sloat  to 
hoist  the  United  States  flag  at  Monterey.  This  in 
turn  prompted  him  to  supplant  in  similar  form  the 
Bear  flag,  which  he  had  sustained  merely  as  a  guise. 
Ide,  who  had  sought  to  figure  as  another  Houston, 
sank  out  of  sight,  and  to  Fremont  was  accorded  the 
questionable  glory  of  the  movement.  He  certainly 
had  asssisted  to  start  the  revolution,  useless  and  un 
justifiable  though  it  was,  and  had  stepped  forward 
to  give  it  fresh  life  and  new  direction  under  semi 
official  auspices,  which  gave  color  to  Sloat's  important 
intervention. 

The  Oregon  question  revealed  the  eagerness  of 
the  United  States  to  extend  her  dominion  to  the 
Pacific  shore.  The  desire  for  a  symmetric  outline 
which  must  include  California,  possessed  as  she  was 
of  the  only  good  harbors  south  of  Puget  sound,  was 
but  natural.  To  this  must  be  added  the  resolve  on  the 
part  of  the  southern  states  to  balance  the  growing 
power  of  the  northern  division.  To  this  end  war  was 
forced  upon  Mexico,  for  which  preparations  had  so 
long  been  made,  partly  by  keeping  a  fleet  in  readiness 
in  the  Pacific,  with  standing  orders  to  watch  the 


30  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

movement  of  English  war  vessels,  lest  they  forestall 
the  Americans  in  occupying  California,  and  to  take 
possession  here  at  the  first  news  of  war  and  reconcile 
the  inhabitants  to  a  union  with  the  eastern  states. 

The  reality  of  English  pretensions  in  California  is 
subject  to  grave  doubts.  The  determined  attitude  of 
the  Americans  in  the  Oregon  affair,  and  their  well- 
known  designs  on  the  adjacent  coast,  must  have 
cooled  the  ardor  of  the  British  to  wedge  themselves 
in  among  such  an  aggressive  people,  with  the  at 
tendant  risk  of  a  conflict,  or  at  least  of  trouble. 
Their  admiral  certainty  exhibited  no  eagerness  in  the 
matter,  and  the  scheme  of  McNamara  to  establish 
an  Irish  colony  here  appears  to  have  emanated  from 
speculators,  connected  perhaps  with  the  vain  efforts 
of  British  bondholders  to  secure  territorial  in 
demnity. 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  official  notifications  of 
war  from  Washington,  Commodore  Sloat  received 
such  reports  of  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  on  the 
Texan  border  that  he  hastened  to  California  with  his 
fleet  of  four  vessels.  Here  his  resolution  failed  him, 
however,  and  several  days  were  wasted  in  vacillating 
consultations.  Fremont's  energetic  movements,  par 
ticularly  in  spiking  tli3  guns  at  San  Francisco,  finally 
decided  him,  and  on  July  7,  1846,  he  landed  at  Mon 
terey,  seized  the  unprotected  post,  and  hoisted  the 
stars  and  stripes.  Within  the  following  few  days  the 
flag  was  likewise  unfurled  at  San  Francisco  and 
Sonoma  by  Sloat's  officers,  and  at  Sutter's  fort  by 
Fremont,  and  soon  after  at  San  Jose,  whence  Castro 
had  retreated  on  the  8th. 

Fremont  promptly  continued  his  advance  by  turn 
ing  from  Sutter's  fort  to  Santa  Clara  valley,  with  a  bat 
talion  now  swelled  to  160  men  by  enlistment  of  the 
Bear  insurgents.  After  entering  San  Juan,  and  thus 
completing  the  occupation  of  northern  California,  he 
proceeded  to  Monterey  to  confer  with  Sloat.  The 
timid  commodore  had  by  this  time  begun  to  doubt 


STOCKTON  AND  SLOAT.  31 

whether  the  war  news  received  by  him  was  reliable, 
and  feared  that  his  instructions  might  have  been  over 
stepped.  On  learning  that  Fremont  had  acted  on  his 
own  responsibility,  he  was  horrified,  and  declared  that 
his  own  act  had  been  based  entirely  on  those  of  the 
captain,  an  attempt  to  shirk  responsibility,  which  re 
dounded  greatly  to  the  credit  of  the  latter. 

Just  then  arrived  Captain  R.  F.  Stockton,  an  ener 
getic,  resolute  man,  next  in  rank  to  Sloat,  who  freely 
expressed  the  opinion  that  existing  orders  justified 
even  wider  action  than  had  been  taken.  In  feeble 
health,  and  in  daily  expectation  of  being  relieved  at 
his  own  request,  Sloat  was  glad  to  surrender  to  the 
other  the  squadron,  with  the  pending  responsibility. 
As  commander-in-chief  also  of  the  bfnd  forces,  Stock-  /( 
ton  enrolled  the  ex-Bears  as  a  battalion  of  volunteers, 
with  Fremont  as  major  and  Gillespie  as  captain,  and 
sent  them  to  San  Diego,  thence  to  cooperate  with  him 
in  completing  the  conquest. 

Sloat  had  issued  a  proclamation  declaring  California 
incorporated  with  the  United  States,  and  her  inhabi 
tants  in  full  enjoyment  of  all  existing  privileges,  to 
gether  with  those  of  their  new  country,  implying 
numerous  reforms,  lessened  taxation,  greater  security, 
increased  prosperity,  and  other  blessings.  This  bold 
announcement,  somewhat  premature  under  the  ap 
parent  nature  of  the  war,  and  hardly  in  accord  with 
Sloat's  vacillation,  might  properly  have  been  affirmed 
by  the  new  commodore.  But,  on  the  contrary,  he 
issued  another  proclamation,  filled  with  bombast  and 
false  charges  of  outrages  on  Fremont  and  others,  and 
of  prevailing  disorders,  which  required  him  to  go  in  pur 
suit  of  marauders  and  to  hold  California  until  redress 
should  be  obtained.  This  was  clearly  instigated  by 
Fremont,  and  intended  to  magnify  Stockton's  task, 
while  shielding  him  in  case  no  war  should  have  broken 
out.  The  latter  explained,  moreover,  to  his  government 
that  prompt  action  was  required  to  protect  American 
immigrants  against  the  Californians,  and  to  prevent  the 


32  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

lavish  disposition  of  land  and  other '  public  property 
by  the  governor. 

Castro  and  Pico  continued  their  retreat  with  grad 
ually  diminishing  forces.  A  fresh  appeal  at  Los 
Angeles  for  defence  of  fireside  and  freedom  evoked 
little  more  than  empty  excuses  in  response  to  fear  arid 
pride.  The  people  had  lost  confidence  in  their  leaders 
and  their  troops,  who  were  regarded  as  marauders; 
and  they  looked  upon  defence  as  hopeless  against  the 
existing  odds.  With  barely  a  hundred  unreliable 
followers  left,  Castro  sought  to  gain  time  for  consid 
eration  by  proposing  a  truce  to  Stockton,  who  had 
landed  at  San  Pedro  to  prepare  for  marching  on  the 
capital.  He  had  also  hopes  of  favorable  terms  from 
the  invaders.  The  avowed  policy  of  peaceful  acquisi 
tion  should  have  prompted  the  commodore  to  listen 
to  overtures.  He  thirsted  for  fame,  however,  with  all 
the  ambition  inherited  from  his  long  descended  New 
Jersey  family,  and  preferred  to  remove  the  existing 
authorities  in  order  to  obtain  free  sway.  Nor  were  his 
reasons  for  the  step  altogether  wrong  ;  for  negotiations 
would  be  tantamount  to  recognition  of  them  and  their 
acts,  and  give  them  other  undesirable  advantages,  while 
any  concessions  on  their  part  would  be  invalid  without 
approval  from  Mexico.  Neither  Castro  nor  Pico  re 
garded  it  as  consistent  with  their  honor  as  Mexican 
officials  to  tender  the  province  to  the  enemy.  Both, 
therefore,  departed  for  the  southern  border,  the  for 
mer  to  end  his  days  in  the  military  service  of  his 
country  in  Lower  California,  while  Pico  soon  returned 
to  his  large  estates,  and  to  the  many  friends  whom  he 
had  enriched  with  large  and  occasionally  ante-dated 
land  grants. 

After  four  days'  drilling  of  his  360  sailors  and 
marines,  Stockton  proceeded  to  Los  Angeles,  entering 
there  on  August  13th  with  Fremont,  who  had  ap 
proached  from  San  Diego  with  his  battalion.  A  fresh 
proclamation,  signed  by  the  former  as  commander-in- 
chief  and  governor  of  California,  declared  the  country 


DISPOSITION  OF  TROOPS.  33 

a  portion  of  the  United  States,  to  be  governed  for  the 
present  by  military  law,  yet  with  local  authorities,  to 
be  elected  by  the  people  on  September  15th.  A  duty 
of  fifteen  per  cent  ad  valorem  was  imposed  on  foreign 
goods. 

Definite  war  news  being  now  received,  Stockton 
declared  all  Mexican  ports  south  of  San  Diego  under 
blockade,  and  prepared  to  depart  with  his  squadron 
to  enforce  it,  and  perhaps,  with  the  aid  of  enlistments 
in  California,  to  fight  his  way  through  Mexico  and 
join  General  Taylor.  To  this  end  he  appointed  Fre 
mont  military  commander  of  the  province,  now  di 
vided  into  three  departments,  with  orders  to  increase 
his  battalion  to  three  hundred  men,  and.  garrison  the 
towns.  Gillespie  was  left  in  charge  of  the  southern 
district,  centering  in  Los  Angeles,  Lieutenant  Mad- 
dox  of  the  central,  stationed  at  Monterey,  and  Captain 
Montgomery  of  the  northern,  with  headquarters  at 
San  Francisco.  The  commodore's  dreams  of  naval 
operations  were  rudely  interrupted,  however. 

The  departure  northward  of  the  main  force,  leav 
ing  only  small  garrisons  at  Los  Angeles  and  Santa 
Barbara,  and  none  at  San  Diego,  had  revived  the 
somewhat  depressed  spirit  of  the  southern  Califor- 
nians.  The  mutual  recriminations  on  the  score  of 
the  pusillanimous  surrender  to  the  invaders  roused  a 
certain  braggardism,  which,  to  say  the  least,  was  at 
Los  Angeles  ill-timed,  and  showed  want  of  considera- 

^5 

tion  on  the  part  of  Gillespie  and  his  solders  for  oppo 
nents  whom  they  had  learnjf  unduly  to  despise.  The 
instigations  of  several  paroled  Mexican  officers,  and 
the  boisterous  impudence  of  a  band  of  young  revel 
ers  under  S.  Varcla,  fanned  the  smouldering  patriot 
ism,  and  300  men  took  up  arms.  So  imposing  a 
force  called  for  proper  organization,  and  Captain  J. 
M.  Flores  was  chosen  comandante-general,  with  J. 
A.  Garrillo  and  Andres  Pico  as  second  and  third. 
Their  inspiring  idea  was  not  exactly  to  defeat  the 
invaders,  but  to  uphold  the  national  flag  in  sufficient 

C.  B.— II.     3 


34  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

strength  to  promote  the  restoration  of  the  province 
to  Mexico  by  treaty,  as  still  unconquered. 

Aglow  with  the  capture  of  a  foreign  posse  at 
Chimo  Ranch o,  the  Californians  pressed  so  closely 
round  Gillespie,  who  had  weakened  himself  by  send 
ing  a  detachment  to  garrison  San  Diego,  that  he  ac 
cepted  their  offer,  at  the  close  of  September  1846,  to 
return  with  honors  of  war  to  San  Pedro,  for  embark 
ation.  The  still  smaller  body  holding  Santa  Barbara 
prudently  escaped  by  night  before  the  gathering  revo 
lutionists,  and  the  one  at  San  Diego  withdrew  to  a 
whaler  in  the  harbor,  thence  to  watch  the  turn  in 
affairs.  Preparations  were  thereupon  made  for  a 
guerilla  warfare,  M.  Castro  being  commissioned  to 
direct  operations  in  the  north,  with  headquarters  at 
San  Luis  Obispo. 

On  learning  of  the  revolt,  Captain  Mervine  was  sent 
to  San  Pedro  with  350  men  to  join  Gillespie  in  re 
gaining  the  lost  ground.  No  animals  could  be  ob 
tained  either  for  mounting  men  or  dragging  cannon, 
so  Mervine  advanced  on  foot  with  small  arms  alone. 
The  well-mounted  Californians  hovered  round, 
harassing  the  force  with  impunity,  and  using  with 
great  effect  a  rapidly  wheeled  gun  upon  the  solid 
ranks.  After  losing  several  men,  Mervine  perceived 
the  futility  of  pursuing  flying  artillery  and  cavalry 
under  such  disadvantage,  and  accordingly  turned  back 
to  his  vessels.  He  did  not  know  that  the  last  volley 
of  the  jubilant  Californians  had  exhausted  their  am 
munition.  Stockton  arrived  shortly  afterward,  and 
was  likewise  impressed  with  the  difficulty  of  a  march 
on  Los  Angeles  against  a  foe,  which  by  sundry  strate 
gies  had  greatly  magnified  their  forces.  One  device 
was  to  display  their  men  in  a  circuitous  march  be 
tween  the  hills  in  such  a  manner,  that  each  man 
was  counted  several  times.  He  therefore  sailed 
onward  with  the  entire  command  to  San  Diego, 
thence  to  seek  the  needed  animals  in  Lower  Califor- 


KEARNY'S  OPERATIONS.  35 

ma,  and  await  the  arrival  overland  of  Fremont,  who 
was  equipping  in  the  north. 

The  Californians  exhibited  corresponding  energy. 
The  assembly  met  on  October  26th  and  elected 
Flores  governor  and  general  ad  interim,  declaring  the 
province  in  a  state  of  siege.  In  order  to  obtain  funds 
it  was  proposed  to  annul  Pico's  hasty  sales  of  mission 
property  and  hypothecate  it.  These  and  other  meas 
ures  for  defence  were  partially  neutralized  by  a  revival 
of  the  petty  jealousies  which  had  so  long  embroiled  the 
officials.  Flores  was  a  Mexican,  and  although  doing 
his  duty  well  and  in  good  faith,  the  Califonrians  pre- 
ferred  a  leader  from  among  themselves.  Intrigue  and 
demoralization  ensued,  based  partly  on  Flores'  indis 
pensable  levies  for  supplies.  The  conspirators  act 
ually  ventured  to  arrest  the  general,  but  the  assembly 
interposed  and  reinstated  him.  Similar  discord 
threatened  to  befall  their  opponents. 

Colonel  S.  W.  Kearny  had  achieved  the  conquest 
of  New  Mexico  during  the  summer  of  1846  in  so 
effective  a  manner  as  to  be  rewarded  with  the  rank  of 
brigadier-general,  in  which  capacity  he  was  instructed 
to  hasten  on  to  California,  occupy  it  in  cooperation 
with  the  naval  forces,  and  organize  a  civil  govern 
ment.  He  promptly  obeyed,  but  learning  on  the  way 
from  Stockton  that  possession  of  the  province  had 
been  secured,  he  proceeded  with  only  120  dragoons 
and  two  guns.  On  December  5th  he  reached  San 
Pasenal,  not  far  from  San  Diego,  whence  Stockton 
had  sent  Gillespie  with  a  party  to  bid  him  welcome. 
Andres  Pico  was  hovering  round  the  place  with 
eighty  men,  intent  on  cutting  off  Gillespie,  and  wholly 
unaware  of  any  other  force.  On  perceiving  him  the 
following  day,  Kearny's  men  gave  chase,  regardless  of 
the  fact  that  they  were  mounted  on  tired  and  badly 
broken  animals  and  with  firearms  rendered  useless  by 
the  night's  rain.  Pico's  men  at  first  retreated,  but 
on  beholding  the  straggling  order  and  embarrassed 

^3  OO  & 

position  of  the  pursuers,  they  turned,  and  with  their 


36  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

advantage  as  excellent  horsemen,  wielding  weapons 
in  unencumbered  hands,  fell  like  an  avalanche  on 
the  dragoons.  Kearny's  rear  coming  up  the  canon, 
they  were  forced  to  continue  the  retreat,  leaving  the 
tipd  to  the  Americans.  The  blunder  of  the  general 
had  cost  eighteen  killed  and  two  dozen  wounded, 
while  the  Californians  escaped  almost  unscathed. 
Stockton  sent  two  hundred  men  to  escort  the  demor 
alized  body  to  San  Diego. 

Fremont,  now  promoted  to  a  lieutenant-colonelcy, 
had  spent  some  time  round  Monterey,  procuring  horses 
and  supplies  against  receipts  forced  upon  the  unwill 
ing  farmers,  and  enlisting  recruits,  including  a  com 
pany  of  Indians.  With  nearly  450  men  he  thereupon 
set  out  from  San  Juan  at  the  close  of  November, 
driving  before  him  the  poorly  equipped  and  dwindling 
forces  of  M.  Castro.  Two  skirmishes  between  Amer 
ican  footmen  and  the  swift  California  cavalry  had  in 
spired  respect  for  the  latter  here  as  in  the  south, 
and  Fremont  thought  it  advisable  to  move  with  great 
caution,  and  at  times  by  untrodden  and  difficult 
paths,  in  order  to  avoid  pitfalls  for  his  untrained  fol 
lowers.  So  slow  was  his  advance  that  a  month  passed 
before  he  reached  Santa  Bdrbara.  Thence  he  turned 
toward  Los  Angeles,  to  effect  a  junction  with  the 
southern  main  body  of  600  men  which  left  San  Diego 
on  December  29th,  under  Stockton  and  Kearny,  the 
latter  yielding  to  the  commodore  the  position  of 
commander-in-chief,  by  virtue  of  his  superior  force, 
and  the  relief  extended  to  himself. 

The  approach  of  two  such  formidable  columns 
spread  no  little  alarm  in  the  intermediate  districts. 
The  rancheros  began  to  hide  supplies  from  the  revo 
lutionists,  and  to  prepare  for  securing  pardon.  Flores 
sought  to  gain  time  for  the  cause  by  suggesting  a 
truce  to  Stockton,  on  the  ground  that  peace  had 
probably  been  arranged  in  Mexico.  The  only  reply 
was  an  offer  of  amnesty  to  all  Californians  save 
Flores,  for  having  broken  his  parole.  The  lingering 


TREATY  OF  CAHUENGA.  37 

prestige  of  their  several  small  successes  in  the  field, 
still  held  together  nearly  500  men  under  his  banner, 
although  demoralized  by  discord,  mismanagement, 
hardships,  and  fear  of  consequences.  With  this  body 
Flores  attempted,  on  January  8,  1847,  to  dispute  the 
fording  of  the  river  near  San  Gabriel.  His  two  guns 
were  soon  silenced,  and  after  some  feeble  demonstra 
tions  the  Calif ornians  disappeared.  Two  days  later 
Stockton  reentered  the  capital. 

The  following  day  Fremont  reached  San  Fernando, 
there  to  be  prevailed  upon  by  the  revolutionary  lead 
ers  to  grant  an  armistice  and  conclude  the  treaty  of 
Cahuenga,  dated  January  13th,  with  Andres  Pico,  to 
whom  Flores  and  Castro  had  surrendered  the  com 
mand.  All  Californians  were  thereby  pardoned,  on 
surrendering  the  public  weapons,  consisting  of  two 
guns  and  six  muskets,  and  promising  not  to  take  up 
arms  again ;  they  were  moreover  accorded  all  the 
privileges  of  American  citizens  without  taking  oath  of 
allegiance.  It  was  wise  to  remove  all  ill-feeling  and 
apprehension  by  such  generous  conditions  ;  but  Fre 
mont  had  no  right  to  grant  them  when  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  was  so  near,  and  no  pressure  existed. 
The  Californians  counted  of  course  on  his  supposed 
greater  liberality,  and  he  was  eager  for  popularity 
and  prominence.  The  commodore  was  offended  for 
awhile,  but  could  not  well  refrain  from  approving  the 
terms,  particularly  as  Kearny  stood  prepared  for  a 
quarrel  and  sought  to  win  Fremont  to  his  side. 

Kearny  understood,  and  rightly,  that  the  supreme 
command  of  the  land  forces  and  the  governorship 
would  fall  to  him  on  his  arrival.  Stockton,  on  the 
other  hand,  declared  that  those  instructions  were 
superseded  by  the  fact  that  he  and  Fremont  had 
achieved  the  conquest  and  established  civil  government, 
as  he  termed  it,  in  accordance  with  prior  instructions. 
In  order  to  sustain  this  point  the  commodore  pre 
vailed  on  Fremont  to  side  with  him  in  consideration 
of  a  commission  as  governor,  issued  to  him  on  Janu- 


38  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

ary  14th,  with  Major  Russell  as  secretary  of  state. 
Finding  his  orders  ignored,  and  the  command  of  the 
naval  troops  withdrawn  from  him,  Kearny  fumed  and 
vowed  vengeance ;  but  although  the  Mormon  bat 
talion,  300  strong,  arrived  at  this  juncture,  he  thought 
it  imprudent  to  provoke  hostilities.  His  forbearance 
was  rewarded.  At  that  very  time  Commodore  Shu- 
brick  came  to  supersede  Stockton  in  the  command  of 
the  squadron,  and  while  affirming  the  rights  of  the 
general,  he  urged  a  peaceful  settlement.  On  retiring, 
January  19th,  Stockton  nevertheless  turned  over  the 
command  to  Fremont  at  Los  Angeles.  The  latter 
could  not  be  blamed  for  supporting  the  man  to  whom 
he  owed  so  much,  nor  for  accepting  the  control  until 
the  two  contestants  had  settled  the  dispute.  He  pro 
claimed  the  establishment  of  civil  rule,  disbanded  a 
proportion  of  the  volunteers,  and  raised  some  money 
for  current  expenses,  although  not  without  trouble  in 
view  of  the  doubts  cast  upon  his  authority.  The 
assembly  called  by  Stockton  did  not  meet,  chiefly  be 
cause  several  of  the  California  appointees  refused  to 
appear  in  a  suspicious  role  while  the  political  destinies 
of  the  province  were  still  involved  in  obscurity. 

Kearny  had  referred  his  case  to  Washington,  and 
in  February  Colonel  R.  B.  Mason  arrived  with  orders 
for  the  senior  officer  of  land  forces  to  assume  the  po 
sition  of  governor,  but  that  Kearny,  as  well  as  Fre 
mont,  should  retire  on  the  completion  of  the  conquest, 
leaving  to  Mason  the  civil  and  military  command. 
On  the  1st  of  March,  accordingly,  the  general,  in 
conjunction  with  Shubrick,  issued  a  circular,  in  which 
the  former  announced  his  assumption  of  the  governor 
ship,  with  Monterey  as  capital.  California  would  re 
main  under  military  rule  until  a  territorial  government 
was  provided  by  congress.  Los  Angeles  was  reduced 
to  headquarters  for  the  southern  district,  the  command 
of  which  was  assigned  to  Cooke  of  the  Mormon  bat 
talion,  soon  replaced  by  Stevenson  of  the  New  York 
volunteers.  His  own  battalion  Fremont  was  ordered 


TRIAL  OF  FREMONT.  39 

to  enroll  into  regular  service,  arid  to  surrender  all  offi 
cial  documents  at  the  new  capital.  As  Kearny  had 
not  condescended  to  state  his  authority,  Fremont 
naturally  assumed  that  he  sought  to  revive  the  old 
question  and  ignored  the  order.  Indeed,  he  issued 
directions  as  governor  for  three  weeks  longer,  and 
when  the  battalion  exhibited  its  distrust  for  the  ser 
vice,  he  maintained  it  for  the  protection  of  the  dis 
trict,  as  he  called  it.  Mason  represented  the  case  so 
bluntly  to  the  explorer  that  a  duel  nearly  ensued. 
Finally  Fremont  yielded,  and  was  obliged  at  the  close 
of  May  to  accompany  the  irate  general  eastward  with 
his  topographin^  party.  On  reaching  Fort  Leav- 
enworth  he  was  declared  under  arrest,  and  ordered  to 
report  at  Washington. 

His  trial  lasted  several  months.  With  Senator 
Beaton  and  W.  Carey  Jones  for  advocates,  his  case 
was  so  ably  handled  as  to  enlist  general  sympathy  for 
him  as  an  ill-used  hero,  who  had  performed  the  most 
signal  services  for  the  country  as  explorer,  conqueror, 
and  statesman.  The  court  had  nevertheless  to  find 
him  guilty  of  disobedience  to  his  superior  officer,  and 
sentence  him  to  dismissal  from  the  army.  The  presi 
dent  remitted  the  penalty,  but  Fremont  refused  clem 
ency,  and  sent  in  his  resignation.  On  tlie  strength 
of  his  fame  bolstered  by  the  trial  he  returned  to  Cal 
ifornia  to  seek  political  honors  and  wealth  from  his 
Mariposa  estates.  A  few  years  later  he  figured  as 
candidate  for  the  presidency.  Stockton,  who  aspired 
to  a  similar  honor,  resigned  in  1849,  on  inheriting  a 
fortune,  and  represented  New  Jersey  in  the  federal 
senate.  Kearny  died  before  the  rflose  of  1848,  after  A 

being  nominated  major-general  for  gallant  conduct  at 
San  Pascuel  I 

Among  the  results  of  Fremont's  operations  were 
claims  for  outrages,  loans,  and  levies,  which  troubled 
alike  the  respondents,  the  sufferers,  and  the  govern 
ment.  In  1852  a  board  was  appointed  to  examine 
the  matter,  and  after  a  session  of  three  years  out  of 


40  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

the  total  claim  of  about  $1,000,000  $157,000  was 
recommended  for  payment,  and  $187,000  for  consider 
ation,  the  rest  being  either  rejected  or  suspended. 

Prior  to  the  treaty  California  was  under  provisional 
occupation,  subject  to  military  rule,  and  to  a  govern 
ment  responsible  to  the  president,  existing  methods 
being  continued  in  accordance  with  policy  and  inter 
national  law.  Sloat  went  too  far,  therefore,  in  prom 
ising  annexation,  as  did  Kearny,  also,  in  absolving 
the  people  from  their  allegiance  to  Mexico,  and  in 
demanding  from  officials  an  oath  to  the  constitution. 
When,  after  the  treaty,  congress  neglected  to  provide 
a  territorial  organization,  the  existing  de  facto  govern 
ment  continued. 

Colonel  Mason  of  the  1st  United  States  dragoons 
assumed  office  as  governor  and  commander-in-chief  of 
the  forces  on  May  31st.  A  few  rumors  and  rash  ut 
terances  kept  the  authorities  on  the  alert.  Santa 
Bd-rbara,  for  instance,  was  fined  for  the  mysterious 
disappearance  of  a  cannon,  and  Pico  was  placed  under 
arrest  when  he  returned  to  claim  the  governorship, 
on  the  ground  that  an  armistice  with  Mexico  left  the 
former  officials  free  to  exercise  their  functions. 

Order  was  maintained  with  the  aid  first  of  the 
Mormon  battalion,  the  greater  portion  of  which  crossed 
Arizona  and  arrived  at  San  Diego  toward  the  close 
of  January  1^47.  The  fear  inspired  by  their  evil 
reputation  proved  groundless,  for  their  behavior  was 
of  the  best,  and  their  services  were  in  demand  by 
farmers  and  other  employers.  They  were  mustered 
out  in  July  1847,  and  half  of  the  number  returned 
home  at  once,  the  remainder  following  them  a  year 
later. 

The  Mormon  battalion  had  replaced  a  portion  of 
the  volunteers  enrolled  by  Fremont,  and  on  their  de 
parture,  the  1st  New  York  volunteer  regiment,  the 
formation  of  which  had  been  ordered  prior  to  the 
declaration  of  war,  was  ordered  to  the  coast.  It  was 


THE  FIRST  NEW  YORK  REGIMENT.  41 

recruited  entirely  from  the  industrial  classes,  and  with 
a  view  to  serve  as  a  nucleus  for  settlement  in  Califor 
nia  when  its  military  career  should  end.  The  com 
panies  were  mustered  into  service  on  August  1,  1846, 
and  presented  a  large  proportion  of  men  who  afterward 
attained  distinction,  although  with  a  considerable 
sprinkling  of  vagabonds.  Their  leader,  D.  Stevenson, 
was  a  colonel  of  militia,  ex-member  of  the  legislature, 
and  a  democratic  ward  politician.  The  men  sailed 
from  New  York  in  September,  and  arrived  at  San 
Francisco  in  March  1847,  thence  to  be  distributed  in 
garrisons,  Stevenson  being  appointed  commander  of 
the  southern  district.  Their  only  field  duties  were 
the  occasional  pursuit  of  Indian  cattle  raiders.  In 
August  1848,  they  were  disbanded,  the  number  of 
men  being  658,  and  of  officers  39,  about  460  having 
deserted  or  been  discharged,  and  one  fourth  of  the 
regiment  remaining  in  California. 

By  the  peace  treaty,  proclaimed  on  August  6,  1848, 
the  province  became  United  States  territory,  the 
Mexican  population  being  allowed  the  option  of  ac 
cepting  citizenship,  and  congress  was  called  upon  to 
provide  a  government.  This  requirement  brought  out 
the  real  object  of  the  democratic  or  war  party,  which 
was  to  outbalance  the  northern  section  of  the  union 
by  adding  slave  states  to  the  south.  The  first  call 
for  war  funds  had  been  conceded  by  the  north  only 
under  the  Wilmot  proviso  that  slavey  should  not  be 
permitted  in  any  acquired  territory.  At  the  second 
call,  early  in  1847,  the  proviso  was  not  insisted  upon, 
lest  it  should  excite  sectional  controversy  and  prolong 
the  war.  Now,  when  the  question  must  be  definitely 
settled,  on  the  formation  of  territorial  government, 
the  north  came  forward  determined  to  sustain  its  pur 
pose.  The  democrats  sought  to  carry  their  point  by 
offering  to  leave  the  decision  to  the  courts,  but  as 
these  were  favorable  to  the  south  it  was  rejected,  and 
no  organic  act  was  passed  during  that  session,  except 


42  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

for  Oregon,  which  lay  beyond    36°  of  latitude,  the 
limit  for  slavery,  according  to  a  late  compromise. 

During  the  next  session  both  parties  brought  in  a 
number  of  bills,  more  or  less  ingeniously  framed,  in 
order  to  win  over  the  less  stubborn  with  a  show  of 
concession.  One  proposed  the  admission  of  all  the 
conquered  region  as  a  state,  leaving  the  question  of 
slavery  to  the  inhabitants.  As  bondage  had  been 
forbidden  by  Mexican  constitutions,  the  democrats 
saw  herein  only  defeat,  and  the  bill  was  ousted,  chiefly 
on  the  ground  of  insufficient  population.  After  much 
manoeuvring,  a  bill  was  passed  extending  the  revenue 
laws  over  California,  the  southerners  expecting  some 
advantage  from  the  extension  of  the  constitution 
thereby  implied. 

The  knot  was  cut  by  California  herself,  lifted  as 
she  was  to  self-asserting  power  by  the  gold  discovery, 
and  the  attendant  influx  of  population,  mainly  from 
the  north.  The  province  had  been  the  objective 
point  for  colonization  projects  on  the  part  of  several 
nations.  Spain  stepped  in  to  save  it  for  the  Musco 
vites,  and  Britons  and  the  Yankees  in  turn  interfered 
to  rescue  it  from  colonial  torpidity  under  Mexico,  or 
conservative  restrictions  under  a  possible  English 
domination,  or  even  from  an  invasion  by  Mormons, 
who  on  their  expulsion  from  the  inner  states  first 
turned  their  attention  to  this  shore.  Elder  Samuel 
Brannan  came,  indeed,  by  sea  with  an  advance  party 
of  238  persons,  together  with  implements  for  farmers 
and  mechanics,  and  other  useful  articles.  Fortu 
nately  for  all  concerned,  on  his  arrival,  in  July  1846, 
he  found  the  country  occupied  by  the  United  States 
forces.  Nevertheless,  he  resolved  to  form  a  settlement, 
and  half  of  his  people  remained,  the  rest  in  due  time 
joining  the  main  body,  which  had  already  sought 
refuge  in  Utah. 

The  gold  discovery  of  January  24,  1848,  of  course 
gave  a  startling  impetus  to  the  new  possessors  of 


THE  GOLD   DISCOVERY.  43 

California.  After  some  three  months  of  pardonable 
doubt,  the  full  reality  burst  upon  the  people,  and  a 
general  rush  set  in  for  the  gold  fields.  One  effect 
was  that  all  minds  were  so  preoccupied  as  to  remove 
any  lingering  fear  of  revolt ;  and  well  that  it  was  so, 
for  sailors  and  soldiers  joined  alike  in  the  rush,  leav 
ing  their  posts  comparatively  defenceless.  Farms 
were  abandoned  and  towns  deserted,  save  by  women 
and  children;  churches  were  closed  and  newspapers 
suspended.  Gold  was  the  one  cry  and  object.  The 
excitement  penetrated  to  adjoining  regions,  as  Oregon, 
Mexico,  and  the  Hawaiian  islands,  and  brought  the 
same  year  several  thousands  to  swell  the  ranks,  and 
extend  the  mining  region  to  the  Tuolumne  on  one 
side  and  Feather  river  on  the  other.  Across  sea 
and  continent  sped  the  tidings,  and  being  sustained 
by  official  reports,  created  a  furor  such  as  the  world 
had  never  yet  beheld,  especially  on  the  western  sea 
board  of  Europe  and  the  Atlantic  slope  of  North 
America.  Men  of  all  classes  prepared  to  seek  a  land 
now  doubly  favored  by  fortune,  some  for  profit,  and 
some  for  novelty  and  adventure.  Ships  were  turned 
from  their  course  to  seek  the  rich  passenger  traffic ; 
manufacturing  establishments  abandoned  their  regular 
channels  to  provide  supplies,  in  food,  implements,  and 
comforts  for  the  new  and  more  profitable  markets. 
Trade,  industries,  society  were  thrown  out  of  course ; 
the  fever  raged  amid  household  and  community;  and 
the  peace  of  the  nations  was  profoundly  disturbed. 

Onward  the  human  current  flowed,  first  by  sea,  for 
winter  still  blocked  the  overland  route.  The  move 
ment  began  in  November,  and  for  February  1849 
three  score  vessels  were  announced  to  sail  from  New 
York  alone.  During  the  following  winter  250  ships 
departed  from  the  eastern  ports  of  the  United  States. 
Most  of  them  passed  round  Cape  Horn ;  others  poured 
their  living  cargoes  on  the  shores  of  the  Isthmus, 
leaving  them  to  find  their  way  northward  as  best  they 
could.  The  steamer  service  just  then  inaugurated 


44  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

gradually  absorbed  the  passenger  traffic,  which  for  a 
while  enriched  also  a  line  via  Nicaragua.  The  first 
steamer  entered  San  Francisco  February  28,  1849. 

The  overland  stream  set  in  in  April  1849,  chiefly 
from  the  old-time  migration  points  on  the  western 
border  of  the  Missouri  and  by  way  of  the  South 
pass,  Great  Salt  lake,  and  Humboldt  river.  The 
next  in  importance  passed  through  Santa  Fe  and 
Arizona.  For  the  sea  route  many  parties  had  been 
formed  for  mutual  aid  in  the  new  and  unknown  field. 
For  the  land  journey  this  became  indispensable  in 
order  to  move  and  protect  the  trains  of  huge  prairie 
wagons  along  an  often  difficult  route,  obstructed  by 
ewamps  and  rivers,  steep  ridges  and  desert  plains, 
subject  to  storms  and  heat,  to  famine,  thirst,  and 
hardship,  and  the  raids  of  marauding  savages,  to 
which  many  a  party  fell  a  prey. 

Such  was  the  influx  which  raised  the  white  popu 
lation  of  California  from  12,000  in  the  summer  of  1848 
to  100,000  by  the  autumn  of  1849.  A  desirable  ad 
dition  it  was,  if  we  except  certain  elements  from 
Mexico  and  Australia,  for  the  distance  and  cost 
served  to  keep  back  the  lowest  classes,  as  did  the 
hardships  of  the  journey  and  mining  life  the  infirm 
and  indolent.  The  chosen  manhood  from  different 
classes  and  nationalities  came  there  to  occupy  the 
land,  in  fitting  accord  with  its  beauty,  resources,  and 
prospects.  It  was  a  cosmopolitan  gathering,  marked 
by  the  youthfulness  of  the  men  and  the  rarity  of 
women.  The  latter  awaited  a  more  advanced  condition 
before  venturing  amid  this  abnormal  society,  with  its 
extravagance,  and  feverish  exuberance,  and  helping  to 
transform  the  tented  camps,  with  their  drinking  orgies 
and  gambling  hells,  into  villages  and  towns  which  in 
time  became  the  centres  for  trade  and  manufactories 
and  agricultural  districts. 

The  immigration  thus  far  had  been  into  the  peace 
ful  valleys  of  the  coast  region  south  of  San  Francisco 
bay,  Now  it  poured  into  the  hitherto  almost  un- 


COLONEL  MASON'S  ADMINISTRATION.  45 

trodden  wilds  of  the  Sacramento  and  San  Joaquin 
vallevs,  lining  their  streams  with  camps  and  towns, 
and  drawing  in  their  wake  a  net-work  of  transports. 
Steamboats  ascended  the  rivers;  wagons  crossed  the 
valleys;  and  mule-trains  wound  their  way  up  the 
sierras,  the  prospector  toiling  on  in  advance  to  open 
new  fields  for  occupation.  As  mining  declined,  a  re 
flux  set  in  toward  the  scantily  occupied  coast  valleys 
on  both  sides  of  the  bay,  and  thence  back  again  into 
the  great  valleys,  this  time  with  plow  instead  of  pick. 
Commerce  prospered  throughout  these  changes  and 
prospective  metropolitan  cities  sprang  up,  especially 
round  the  central  bay,  on  which  nearly  all  the  valleys 
and  rivers  converged.  Benicia,  Vallejo,  and  others 
strove  in  vain  for  the  distinction;  it  remained  with 
the  city  at  the  gate,  which  rose  from  a  village  in 
1848  to  a  town  of  several  thousand  inhabitants  in 
1849.  Wharves  were  projected  to  meet  inflowing 
fleets;  hills  were  torn  down  and  thrown  in  behind 
them  to  transform  the  shallow  cove  into  business 
blocks,  while  dwellings  spread  around  over  the  ridges 
and  slopes.  In  the  interior  Stockton  obtained  the 
control  of  the  San  Joaquin  traffic,  and  Sacramento 
that  of  the  upper  valley,  while  a  host  of  minor  posts 
were  content  to  figure  as  tributaries. 

Colonel  Mason,  as  military  ruler,  was  the  embodi 
ment  of  fidelity  to  the  general  government,  and 
while  confining  himself  to  carrying  out  instructions 
and  avoiding  the  dangers  of  assumed  responsibility, 
he  did  very  well  under  the  anomalous  condition  of 
affairs.  He  could  not  stay  the  inroads  of  land-sharks 
on  the  estates  of  the  simple  natives  and  pioneers, 
but  during  his  administration  sensible  alcaldes  and 
mixed  juries  assisted  in  suppressing  crimes,  which 
subsequently  demanded  the  interposition  of  vigilance 
committees.  He  was  relieved  early  in  1849  and 
went  home,  only  to  succumb  to  cholera  in  the  same 
summer,  at  the  age  of  sixty. 


46  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

During  the  winter  of  1848-9  the  people  found  a 
little  time  to  devote  to  other  matters  than  gold. 
The  military  rule  at  once  struck  them  as  objection 
able,  and  the  appointment  of  General  P.  F.  Smith 
to  replace  Mason  as  military  commander  did  not 
improve  the  feeling.  Meetings  at  San  Francisco 
and  elsewhere  agreed  upon  a  convention  for  the 
summer  of  1849.  In  April,  however,  General  Ben 
nett  Riley  arrived  with  a  brigade  of  650  men,  bear 
ing  instructions  to  head  the  civil  government,  which 
was  then  supposed  to  be  already  in  existence. 
Finding  that  congress  had  neglected  to  grant  a 
government,  and  that  the  people  clamored  for  it,  he 
sensibly  proposed  to  form  a  temporary  one,  by  order 
ing  the  election  of  officers  on  August  1st,  to  serve 
until  the  close  of  the  year,  and  assist  in  a  vigorous 
enforcement  of  the  existing  lawrs,  so  far  as  they  did 
not  conflict  with  those  of  the  United  States. 

At  the  same  time  delegates  were  to  be  chosen  for 
a  convention  to  meet  in  September  at  Monterey  and 
frame  either  a  state  constitution  or  a  territorial  orga 
nization,  to  be  submitted  to  congress.  The  choice  of 
thirty-seven  delegates  as  first  apportioned  gave  a  de 
cided  preponderance  to  men  of  southern  sympathies, 
but  under  the  rapid  influx  of  gold-seekers  eleven 
more  were  admitted,  so  that  twenty-two  came  from 
northern  states,  fifteen  from  slave  states,  seven  were 
native  Californians,  and  four  foreign  born.  The 

O 

southern  element  nevertheless  sought  to  obtain  the 
management,  under  the  guidance  of  W.  M.  Gwin  and 
T.  B.  King.  The  latter  was  confidential  agent  of  the 
government,  and  although  a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth 
he  had  represented  Georgia  in  congress  as  a  state 
rights  advocate.  Gwin  was  a  congressman  from 
Mississippi  who  had  come  to  the  coast  with  the  ex 
press  object  of  becoming  senator  for  California.  Made 
confident  by  their  growing  strength,  the  northerners 
stood  prepared  to  resent  any  dictation  from  the 
chivalry.  Gwin  was  ridiculed  out  of  his  pretensions 


SLAVERY  AND  THE  BOUNDARY  QUESTION.  47 

to  the  presidency  of  the  convention,  and  Temple,  the 
pioneer  editor,  a  man  of  gigantic  stature,  was  selected. 

A  great  struggle  was  expected  on  the  question  of 
slavery,  but  to  the  surprise  of  the  northerners  no  ob 
jection  was  raised  to  its  exclusion.  The  southerners 
had  gauged  the  temper  of  the  majority,  and  intent 
on  office  they  did  not  choose  to  provoke  it.  They 
hoped  to  gain  their  point  in  a  subsequent  division  of 
the  country  or  by  congressional  interference.  This 
they  accordingly  sought  to  facilitate  by  proposing  an 
extension  of  the  boundary  to  embrace  all  of  the  con 
quered  territory,  even  as  far  as  the  Texan  border. 
Again  northern  acumen  thwarted  them.  It  was  de- 
decided  to  adopt  the  lines  most  likely  to  meet  with 
approval,  so  as  not  to  defeat  the  admission  to  state 
hood,  to  which  the  fast-growing  population  aspired. 
The  present  boundary  was  therefore  adopted,  or 
nearly  so,  along  the  120th  meridian,  from  the  42d  to 
the  39th  parallel,  and  thence  to  the  Colorado  river. 
As  a  precautionary  compromise  a  proviso  was  added 
to  extend  the  boundary  as  far  as  New  Mexico,  if 
congress  should  object  to  the  line  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada. 

The  age  for  citizenship  was  placed  at  twenty-four 
years.  Indians  might  be  admitted  to  suffrage  by  the 
legislature.  This  body  was  restricted  in  the  creation 
of  corporations  and  the  contracting  of  debts.  Taxes 
were  largely  left  to  loyal  decision  by  giving  to  coun 
ties  and  towns  the  election  of  assessors  and  boards  of 
supervisors.  Married  women  were  protected  in  their 
property ;  duels  were  forbidden.  The  secretary  of 
state  and  other  state  officers  were  appointed  by  the 
governor,  subject  to  legislative  consent.  The  consti 
tution  was  mainly  copied  from  those  of  New  York 
and  Iowa,  modified  by  the  heterogeneous  character  of 
the  convention,  and  its  defects  were  due  to  circum 
stances  rather  than  judgment,  It  was  completed  on 
the  13th  of  October,  1849,  and  adopted  almost  unani 
mously  on  November  13th,  The  officials  then  elected 


48  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

were  :  Peter  H.  Burnett,  governor  ;  John  McDougal, 
lieutenant  governor ;  Edward  Gilbert,  and  G.  W. 
Wright,  congressmen.  On  December  12th  Governor 
Riley  proclaimed  the  constitution  as  established,  and 
on  the  20th  Burnett  was  installed  in  his  place,  with 
H.  W.  Halleck  for  secretary,  as  he  had  been  under 
preceding  administrations.  Other  appointments  were 
gradually  cancelled  as  the  state  government  came 
into  operation  in  all  branches.  Riley,  "the  grim  old 
swearer,"  departed  the  following  summer,  bearing 
tangible  proofs  of  esteem  for  the  statesman-like  tact 
which  had  tempered  his  firm  military  dictatorship. 

Burnett  was  born  in  Nashville,  Tennessee,  in  1807, 
and  passed  the  greater  portion  of  his  youth  on  the 
Missouri  border.  After  a  brief  experience  as  clerk 
in  a  store,  he  studied  law  and  became  an  editor,  but 
met  with  so  little  success  that  in  1843  he  migrated 
with  his  family  to  Oregon,  there  to  figure  as  farmer, 
lawyer,  legislator,  and  judge.  The  gold  discovery  in 
duced  him  to  seek  a  firmer  foundation  for  his  fortune 
in  California,  and  this  came  to  him  as  agent  from 
Sutter.  His  prestige  as  judge  of  the  supreme  court 
of  the  northern  state,  brought  him  additional  promi 
nence  at  a  time  when  the  country,  in  its  striving  for 
statehood,  eagerly  appreciated  such  experience.  Thus 
it  was  that  he  received  the  office  of  judge  of  the 
supreme  court,  which  he  resumed  in  1857-8,  and  then 
of  governor.  Later  he  became  president  of  the  Pa 
cific  bank  of  San  Francisco. 

The  first  legislature  consisted  of  sixteen  senators 
and  thirty-six  assemblymen.  A  few  displayed  the 
youthful  exuberance  of  the  mining  camps,  but  the 
greater  number  were  staid,  sensible,  and  energetic 
men,  above  the  sordid  considerations  and  political 
prostitution  which  stained  later  bodies.  The  appella 
tion  "  Legislature  of  a  Thousand  Drinks,"  was  due  to 
a  facetious  lobbyist  rather  than  to  any  marked  ex 
cess.  It  was  organized  on  December  17th,  with 


SEAT  OF  THE  CAPITOL.  49 

T.  J.  White  as  speaker  for  the  assembly  and  E.  Kirby 
Chamberlain  as  president  pro  tempore  of  the  senate. 

The  meeting  took  place  at  San  Jose,  which  had 
secured  the  privilege  from  the  convention  at  Mon 
terey  on  condition  of  providing  a  suitable  building, 
but  this  proved  to  be  of  such  poor  quality  that  the 
legislature  was  on  the  point  of  returning  to  the  old 
capital  At  the  close  of  the  session  no  permanent 
capital  was  selected,  owing  to  the  rivalry  of  different 
towns ;  and  thus  the  honor  was  hawked  about  for 
several  years.  Vallejo  made  so  brilliant  an  offer  on 
behalf  of  the  town  named  after  him,  that  the  second 
legislature  adopted  it  as  a  permanent  seat,  although 
so  dissatisfied  with  the  accommodation  that  it  moved 
back  to  San  Jose.  Its  successor  found  the  former 
town  so  dull  and  remote  that  a  change  was  made  to 
Sacramento.  The  legislature  of  1853  made  Benicia 
the  seat,  but  in  the  following  year  the  law-makers 
once  more  had  recourse  to  Sacramento  The  judi 
ciary  now  interposed  in  behalf  of  San  Jose  as  the 
constitutional  .capital,  but  was  overruled,  and  Sacra 
mento  retained  the  position.  The  worst  feature  of 
these  changes  was  the  use  of  money  to  buy  votes  in 
each  case,  with  the  attendant  disregard  for  the  in 
terests  both  of  the  state  and  the  ^individuals  concerned. 

One  of  the  first  tasks  of  the  legislature  was  to  elect 
United  States  senators.  Fremont  received  the  high 
est  vote,  by  virtue  of  the  popularity  acquired  during 
the  conquest,  and  affirmed  during  his  trial.  Gwin, 
who  came  next,  had  the  advantage  over  his  com 
petitors,  especially  over  King,  being  an  abler,  cooler, 
and  more  crafty  man  than  any,  and  with  a  less  pro 
nounced  selfishness,  that  did  not  overlook  the  claims 
of  his  state  and  party.  His  pro-slavery  sentiments 
favored  him,  since  it  was  necessary  to  court  the 
southern  element  in  order  to  gain  admission  to  state 
hood.  Among  the  unsuccessful  candidates,  Secretary 
Halleck,  and  T.  J.  Henley,  secured  more  votes  than 


King. 


C.  B.— II.     4 


50  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

The  election  of  state  officers  made  S.  C.  Hastings 
chief  justice,  with  H.  A.  Lyons  and  Nathaniel  Ben 
nett  for  associates  ;  Richard  Roman  treasurer  ;  J.  S. 
Houston  comptroller  ;  E.  J.  C.  Kewen  attorney -gen 
eral,  soon  succeeded  by  J.  A.  McDougall ;  and  C.  A. 
Whiting  surveyor-general ;  and  later,  J.  G.  Marvin 
superintendent  of  public  instruction.  The  annual 
state  election  was  appointed  for  the  first  Monday  in 
October,  and  county  elections  for  the  first  Monday  of 
April,  in  1852,  and  every  second  year  thereafter. 

Nine  judicial  districts  were  created,  one  for  San 
Francisco,  three  for  the  coast  counties  south  of  the 
bay,  one  for  San  Joaquin  valley,  and  four  to  em 
brace  the  northern  half  of  the  state.  The  district 
courts  would  replace  the  courts  of  first  instance,  those 
of  the  second  and  third  instance  being  at  once  abol 
ished.  The  judges  were  elected  by  the  people  and 
commissioned  by  the  governor,  while  the  legislature 
chose  the  supreme  judges.  A  municipal  court  of  three 
superior  judges  was  assigned  to  the  metropolis.  Jus 
tices  of  the  peace  attended  to  minor  cases.  The  com 
mon  law  was  recommended  for  guidance  in  the  absence 
of  statutory  law.  The  state  was  divided  into  twenty- 
seven  counties,  and  county  seats  established,  except 
in  four  northern  sections,  which  were  attached  judi 
cially  to  Sonoma  and  Shasta  ;  and  in  a  few  cases  the 
selection  was  left  to  the  inhabitants. 

All  free  white  men  between  the  ages  of  eighteen 
and  forty- five  were  declared  subject  to  military  duty, 
except  such  as  had  served  in  the  army  or  navy,  or 
were  members  of  volunteer  companies.  The  militia 
and  independent  corps  were  organized  into  four  di 
visions  and  eight  brigades,  under  the  governor  as 
commander-in-chief,  who  might  appoint  two  ^cles-de- 
camp,  with  the  rank  of  colonels  of  cavalry,  the  leg 
islature  electing  the  ma^br  and  brigadier-generals,  one 
adjutant,  and  one  quartermaster  general.  All  per 
sons  liable  to  enrolment  and  not  members  of  any 
company  were  required  to  pay  two  dollars  annually 


TAXATION  AND  DEBT.  51 

into  the  county  treasury  for  a  military  fund,  wliich 
was  increased  by  the  exemption  tax  of  minors.  It 
was  applied  solely  to  that  department,  including  sal 
aries  of  officers  or  rather  of  the  adjutant  and  quarter 
master-general,  for  the  rest  were  compensated  by  rank 
alone.  In  1872  the  organized  uniformed  troops  wera 
converted  into  the  present  National  Guard,  consisting 
of  thirty-six  infantry,  six  cavalry,  and  two  artillery 
companies,  whose  pay,  when  in  service, was  the  same  as 
in  the  United  States  army.  The  sum  of  $300  was  an 
nually  allowed  for  expenses  to  each  company  of  over 
sixty  members ;  to  others  in  proportion. 

A  state  tax  was  imposed  of  fifty  cents  on  every 
$100  worth  of  assessed  property,  with  certain  ex 
eruptions  for  widows:  and  a  poll  tax  of  $5  on  every 
male  between  the  ages  of  twenty-one  and  fifty.  The 
expenses  of  county  governments  were  to  be  defrayed 
partly  from  licenses  for  every  kind  of  pursuit  save 
mining.  Meanwhile  the  empty  treasury  was  replen 
ished  by  a  loan  of  $200,000  for  a  term  not  exceeding 
twelve  years,  and  the  treasurer  was  authorized  to  is 
sue  bonds  for  an  amount  not  exceeding  $300,000,  at 
three  per  cent  per  month,  payable  in  six  months,  as  a 
temporary  accommodation.  Not  content  with  this, 
the  legislature  passed  an  act  authorizing  a  loan  in 
New  York  of  not  more  than  $1,000,000,  at  ten  per 
cent  per  annum,  redeemable  in  from  ten  to  twenty 
years. 

The  propensity  for  accumulating  debt  has  character 
ized  so  many  of  the  new  states  that  California,  with 
her  golden  prospects  of  wealth,  could  hardly  be  ex 
pected  to  abstain,  especially  under  the  feeling  of  ex 
uberance  then  prevailing.  Circumstances  were  also 
partly  to  blame,  for  prices  were  exceedingly  high, 
and  consequently  expenses.  The  legislators  drew  $16 
per  diem,  with  extravagant  mileage,  and  the  pay  roll 
of  the  state  officers  exceeded  $100,000.  Yet  such 
were  the  inducements  to  members  to  look  after  their 
mining  and  other  interests  that  a  quorum  was  difficult 


52  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA.  .    • 

to  obtain.  The  senate  was  compelled  at  one  time  to 
reduce  the  number  requisite  for  a  quorum  in  order 
not  to  obstruct  business.  Several  resignations  had  to 

O 

be  accepted,  followed  by  new  elections.  Nevertheless 
the  first  legislature  did  its  work  with  commendable 
zeal. 

Northern  sentiments  predominated,  and  the  local 
southern  element,  being  as  desirous  as  the  rest  for  the 
admission  of  the  state,  did  not  feel  disposed  to  revive 
here  the  struggle  going  on  at  the  national  capital. 
Both  sides  united  in  condemning  congressional  oppo 
sition  to  the  pretensions  of  the  state  on  account  of 
the  slavery  question,  the  decision  of  which  should  be 
left  entirely  to  the  territory  concerned.  This  the 
democratic  or  pro-slavery  party  at  Washington  con 
ceded  as  a  principle,  but  resisted  its  application  when 
opposed  to  their  aims.  The  southerners  chose  to  lord 
it  over  the  northern  mudsills  in  congress,  assailing 
them  with  fiery  invectives,  and  declaring  every  com 
promise  or  equitable  allowance  a  pure  concession  by 
the  south. 

When  California  came  forward  in  earnest  for  ad 
mission  the  slavery  struggle  burst  forth  anew.  The 
southerners  had  entertained  hopes  that  circumstances 
might  favor  them  in  securing  that  region  for  their 
side,  notwithstanding  the  temporary  recognition  of 
the  Wilmot  proviso,  in  order  to  obtain  money  for  the 
war.  The  effect  of  the  gold  fever  in  bringing  a  pre 
dominating  northern  influx  was  an  unexpected  and  ir 
remediable  blow  to  their  plans.  The  ready  yielding 
of  their  agents  in  the  state  convention  and  legislature, 
for  personal  motives,  was  another  disappointment. 
The  only  recourse  now  was  to  defer  the  triumph,  par 
ticularly  as  affecting  the  political  balance  in  congress. 

The  California  delegation  was  assiduously  courted 
by  the  northern  statesmen,  and  the  coldness  of  his 
own  party  toward  Gwin  strengthened  his  personal 
disposition  to  respond  to  the  others.  Clay  regarded 
the  aspect  as  sufficiently  serious  to  propose  a  corn- 


ADMISSION  TO  STATEHOOD.  53 

promise,  which  among  other  points,  renounced  the 
Wilmot  proviso  for  the  territories,  and  offered  to  pay 
the  early  debt  of  Texas.  During  the  long  discussion 
the  resolutions  were  altered  and  amended  beyond 
recognition,  yet  most  of  them  were  incorporated  in 
special  bills  and  passed,  constituting  in  effect  a  com 
promise.  The  way  thus  smoothed,  the  bill  for  admis 
sion  passed  the  senate  on  August  13th  by  a  vote  of 
34  to  18  The  democratic  side  numbered  32,  and 
among  these  several  rushed  forward  to  sustain  a  pro 
test  against  the  act  as  an  infringement  of  the  consti 
tution,  violating  the  rights  of  the  south,  and  endan 
gering  liberty  and  equality.  California  should  have 
been  fairly  divided  between  the  free  and  slave  states. 
Such  was  the  feeling  which  in  due  time  culminated 
in  a  war  of  secession,  and  for  which  California  was 
one  of  the  innocent  causes.  Notwithstanding  the 
efforts  of  opponents  the  house  likewise  passed  the 
bill  on  September  7th,  by  a  vote  of  150  to  56.  It 
was  approved  on  the  9th,  and  two  days  later  the  Cal 
ifornia  delegation  presented  itself,  in  face  of  the  last 
ineffectual  remonstrances  of  the  south.  The  long  de 
lay  had  created  no  little  anger  in  the  state.  Officials 
joined  in  expressing  disapproval,  and  even  revolution 
ary  sentiments  were  freely  uttered,  in  favor  of  sepa 
ration  and  independence.  Although  nothing  serious 
was  likely  to  happen,  a  general  feeling  of  relief  as 
well  as  joy  greeted  the  arrival  of  the  good  news. 

During  the  congressional  discussion  of  California's 
fate,  party  leaders  in  the  state  sought  to  make  clearer 
the  line  between  whigs  and  democrats,  by  agitating 
the  points  at  issue  and  calling  for  a  rally.  In  San 
Francisco  indeed  the  democrats  gained  the  control, 
together  with  the  independents,  while  the  whigs  had 
the  upper  hand  in  Sacramento.  The  reason  was  the 
dependence  of  the  latter  place  on  the  mines,  where 
northerners  preponderated.  The  northern  counties 
were  so  superior  numerically  that  they  could  readily 


54  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

determine  political  action,  yet  the  miners  were  more 
interested  in  legislation  on  mining,  and  prepared  to 
make  this  an  issue  rather  than  a  party  question,  so 
that  with  a  proper  consideration  for  this  demand  even 
a  pronounced  southerner  might  acquire  a  large  support 
among  the  classes  with  whig  sympathies. 

The  election  of  October  7,  1850,  brought  to  the 
legislature  27  democrats  and  8  independents  against 
18  whigs.  The  following  year  saw  the  apportion 
ment  increased  to  62  members  in  the  assembly  and 
27  in  the  senate,  only  one  whig  being  added  to  the 
latter  body.  The  call  to  elect  a  senator  to  succeed 
Fremont  brought  forth  the  strength  of  the  anti-free- 
soil  party.  Fremont  fell  out  of  the  race,  partly  from 
having  attended  so  little  to  the  duties  of  his  position, 
but  neither  side  could  secure  the  needful  votes  for 
any  other  candidate.  One  reason  was  the  broadening 
distinction  between  northern  and  pro-slavery  demo 
crats,  animated  by  somewhat  different  interests.  The 
place  remained  vacant  till  1862,  when  the  choice,  after 
a  struggle,  fell  on  John  B.  Weller,  a  protege  of  the 
Gwin  faction. 

Although  a  native  of  Ohio,  where  he  had  held 
positions  of  honor,  Weller  was  a  pro-slavery  man. 
As  colonel  of  a  regiment  during  the  Mexican  war,  he 
obtained  from  his  general,  when  chosen  president, 
the  appointment  of  Mexican  boundary  commissioner. 
The  admission  of  the  state  prompted  him  to  turn  to 
politics,  with  a  view  to  the  prize  which  he  now  gained. 
He  studied  the  interests  of  his  party  so  well  as  to 
receive  subsequently  the  gubernatorial  office. 

By  this  time  the  democrats  had  fortified  themselves 
by  careful  organization.  Their  first  state  convention 
had  met  in  May  1851,  with  176  delegates.  It  was 
planned  and  directed  by  Gwin,  whose  hand  was ' 
everywhere  visible.  He  joined  in  an  attack  upon  the 
whig  administration  at  Washington,  whose  hostility 
to  California  was  shown  in  the  scantiness  of  the 
favors  wrung  from  it  by  the  redoubtable  senator ;  and 


WHIGS  AXD  INDEPENDENTS.  55 

he  roused  the  miners  in  particular  by  pointing  to  the 
heavy  drain  on  their  earnings  through  the  neglect  to 
establish  a  local  mint. 

The  whigs  were  not  backward  in  mustering,  but 
their  delegates  numbered  only  100,  seven  counties 
being  unrepresented.  They  appealed  to  the  mining 
class  by  proposing  that  mineral  lands  should  be  held 
by  the  government  for  their  benefit,  to  be  worked 
free  of  taxes ;  and  that  the  land  should  be  given  the 
immediate  benefit  of  preemption  laws.  Other  meas 
ures  were  suggested,  but  like  the  democrats  they 
carefully  abstained  from  alluding  to  local  corruption 
and  reform,  as  if  afraid  to  attract  the  enmity  of  the 
class  which  was  then  rousing  the  ire  of  the  vigilance 
committee. 

The  independents,  or  true  California  party,  lacked 
cohesion  and  did  not  attempt  to  form  a  ticket,  pre 
ferring  to  cast  its  influence  on  the  side  which  prom 
ised  best  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  state,  and  to 
let  its  organs  wield  a  censorship  over  the  other  par 
ties.  Unfortunately  for  the  whigs  their  preference 
for  them  tended  only  to  create  a  split,  and  so  further 
the  aims  of  the  more  disciplined  and  unit-loving  demo 
crats,  who  indeed  retained  the  supremacy  throughout 
the  fifties. 

The  whigs  had  been  unfortunate  also  in  neglecting 
the  southern  half  of  tho  state  in  their  nominations, 
for  a  similar  disregard  by  the  other  party  left  here  an 
advantage  to  their  opponents.  The  democrats  had 
been  more  calculating  than  careless  in  this  respect. 
They  still  aspired  to  form  a  slave  state  by  dividing 
California,  and  to  this  end  they  preferred  to  rouse 
discontent  in  that  section.  By  neglecting  to  assign 
congressional  districts,  the  legislature  allowed  the 
congressmen,  McCorkle  and  Marshall,  to  be  elected  at 

O  '  * 

large,  thus  inflicting  another  slight  on  the  south. 

Governor  Burnett  was  a  suave,  correct  man,  who 
impressed  people  with  his  judicial  air,  while  readily 


56  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

accommodating  himself  to  circumstances  and  opinions, 
thus  avoiding  serious  errors,  if  not  aspiring  to  high 
achievements.  He  was  too  slow  and  conservative, 
however  for  the  time,  and  when,  in  consequence  of 
conversion  to  the  catholic  faith  and  the  pressure  of 
private  business,  he  resigned  his  office  in  1851,  there 
was  no  very  pronounced  expression  of  regret.  Never 
theless  he  was  a  loss  to  the  state,  for  his  successor, 
whatever  may  have  been  his  merits  or  demerits,  shed 
no  special  lustre  over  the  rising  star  of  Califor 
nia.  Like  Weller,  John  McDougall  was  a  native  of 
Ohio,  and  had  figured  in  official  capacity  in  Indiana, 
and  served  in  Indian  fights  as  well  as  in  the  Mexican 
war.  His  brilliant  social  talents,  fine  appearance, 
and  genial  qualities  won  for  him  a  leading  position 
among  democrats,  which  lifted  him  to  office,  and  sub 
sequently  secured  his  election  to  the  United  States 
senate.  His  greatest  failing  was  a  too  strict  devotion 
to  party. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  1852,  John  Bigler  was  in 
stalled  as  governor.  At  this  date  the  squatters  were 
powerful,  and  Bigler,  whose  struggles  with  fortune  in 
various  humble  capacities  had  brought  him  in  con 
tact  with  their  class,  and  whose  neighborly  disposi 
tion  had  won  their  appreciation,  courted  them  with 
such  success  as  to  gain  a  small  majority  over  his 
opponent  Reading,  the  choice  of  the  more  aristocratic 
chivalry.  He  was  also  a  good-natured  man,  so  much 
so  as  readily  to  lend  himself  to  corruption,  despite 
frequent  expostulations  with  a  legislature  that  squan 
dered  the  resources  of  the  state.  The  whigs  saw 
herein  a  chance  for  supplanting  him  at  the  following 
election  by  nominating  W.  Waldo,  who  was  esteemed 
no  less  for  his  pure  principles  and  firmness,  than  for 
liberal  and  philanthropic  views.  But  the  democrats 
had  special  reasons  for  rallying  to  the  support  of  its 
office-holders.  Their  plans  for  speculation  had  ma 
tured  and  the  fruit  must  be  left  for  others  to  gather. 
One  of  the  main  prizes  was  the  water-lot  property  of 


ELECTION  OF  1852.  57 

San  Francsico,  from  which  Bigler's  adherents  ex 
pected  to  gain  $4,000,000.  They  could  afford,  there 
fore,  to  spend  money  in  buying  votes,  and  in  stuffing 
ballot-boxes.  At  San  Francisco  alone  $1,500,000 
were  distributed,  so  that  this,  the  centre  of  the  whigs, 
actually  gave  a  majority  for  its  proposed  spoliation, 
allowing  him  to  retain  the  gubernatorial  seat  for  a 
second  term.  The  water-lot  bill  was  defeated  how 
ever,  owing  to  the  vigilance  of  the  city  representatives. 

In  1852  took  place  the  first  presidential  election  in 
California.  Both  factions  strained  every  effort  in 
order  to  gain  standing  with  the  national  party.  The 
whigs  were  defeated,  and  the  democrats  claimed  no 
Ijttle  credit  with  the  victorious  administration  for 
having  secured  a  majority  for  Pierce  out  of  the  total 
vote  of  71,189.  The  distribution  of  patronage,  how 
ever,  caused  no  little  contention,  involving  as  it  did 
the  entire  list  of  federal  offices.  The  chief  prize,  the 
collectorship  of  customs,  was  tendered  to  R.  P. 
Hammond,  a  retired  army  man  residing  in  the  state. 
M.  S.  Latham  and  J.  A.  McDougal  were  sent  to 
congress. 

Finding  themselves  thus  strengthened  the  demo 
crats  renewed  their  efforts  for  the  division  of  the 
state,  by  proposing  a  new  constitution.  A  number 
of  disaffected  whigs  promoted  the  scheme  with  a 
view  to  gain  votes  from  the  main  party.  The  meas 
ure  was  tried  again  in  1856-7,  but  received  so  meagre 
a  vote  that  it  could  not  be  acted  upon. 

Meanwhile  the  southerners  tried  to  obtain  permis 
sion  for  their  immigrants  to  bring  slaves  into  the 
country,  several  being  introduced  in  anticipation;  but 
public  sentiment  had  turned  against  the  admission  of 
inferior  races,  whether  foreigners  or  natives.  It  had 
asserted  itself  not  alone  against  Australian  convicts 

O 

and  proposed  coolie  or  contract  labor,  but  most  un 
justly  against  local  Spanish- Americans.  Now  it  op 
posed  also  the  entry  of  negro  slaves.  So  sweeping 
were  the  views  of  many  northerners  in  this  regard 


58  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

that  they  were  in  1852  prevailed  on  to  pass  the  fugi 
tive  act,  under  which  even  free  negroes  were  liable  to 
be  seized  and  reenslaved.  Fortunately  the  judges 
were  merciful,  and  most  negroes  so  arrested  were 
released.  After  several  extensions  the  law  was 
allowed  to  lapse  in  1858.  The  habit  of  kidnapping 
Indians  for  forced  servitude  was  likewise  frowned  down. 

A  fearlesss  opponent  of  such  oppressive  enact 
ments,  and  of  the  high-handed  chivalry  had  risen  in 
the  person  of  David  Colbert  Broderick,  born  at  Kil 
kenny,  Ireland,  in  1820,  but  brought  at  an  early  age 
to  the  United  States  by  his  father,  a  stone-cutter, 
whose  trade  he  followed.  At  New  York  he  fell  in 
with  the  rough,  muscular  element,  and  became  a 
leader  among  firemen,  with  their  political  predilec 
tions.  His  inherent  magnetism  and  capacity  for  or 
ganization  soon  revealed  themselves,  and  roused  his 
ambition  to  display  them  in  higher  circles.  He 
opened  a  dram-shop  in  order  to  gain  time  for  study 
in  the  branches  of  learning  necessary  for  advancement, 
and  opportunity  for  winning  adherents.  With  their 
aid  he  stepped  into  the  custom-house,  and  then  posed 
for  congress.  The  commendable  desire  to  form 
loftier  principles  for  conduct  than  were  prevalent 
among  his  associates  lost  him  a  considerable  following, 
and  he  was  defeated. 

Dejected  and  penniless,  he  sought  California  in 
1849,  and  with  somewhat  retrieved  fortune,  made  his 
bow  before  the  representatives  of  New  York  democ 
racy  at  San  Francisco.  The  next  year  he  entered  the 
state  senate.  His  prestige  as  a  trained  politician, 
who  had  presided  over  conventions  and  directed  polit 
ical  campaigns  at  the  east,  raised  him  to  the  presi 
dency  of  the  body.  He  studied  law  to  acquire  skill 
for  the  position,  and  filled  it  ably.  Notwithstanding 
his  association  with  the  base,  his  own  deportment  was 
most  exemplary.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  convic 
tions,  with  loves  and  hates  intense ;  with  womanly 
sensibilities  held  in  control  by  a  powerful  will ;  and  a 


BRODER1CK   AND  GWIN.  59 

reserve  tinged  with  melancholy — a  man  who  rarely 
smiled. 

His  ambition  now  aspired  to  a  senatorship,  and  to 
this  end  he  fitted  every  political  act.  The  pro-slavery 
democrats  under  Gwin  objected  to  him  as  a  presump 
tuous  northern  plebeian,  with  anti-slavery  principles. 
Broderick's  attitude  in  consequence  tended  to  make 
clearer  the  distinction  between  northern  and  southern 
democrats,  notwithstanding  the  strong  unity  of  ideas 
in  the  party.  This  was  affirmed  by  the  contention 
for  spoil  at  the  change  of  the  administration,  for 
Gwin's  side  favored  only  the  south,  preferring,  indeed, 
a  whig  from  that  quarter  to  an  anti-slavery  democrat. 

Gwin  had  displayed  admirable  tact.  As  a  demo 
crat  in  a  democratic  senate  he  h  ad  wielded  a  strong 
influence  over  the  acts  and  appointments  of  the  whig 
administration,  and  still  greater  was  his  power  under 
the  new  regime,  while  in  California  he  had  been  the 
head  of  the  democratic  party,  a  position  only  now  to 
be  disputed.  He  had  performed  marked  services  for 
the  state,  in  promoting  enactments  and  appropriations, 
and  his  efforts  were  widely  appreciated;  but  he  had 
not  neglected  his  own  interests,  as  shown  in  many 
momentary  schemes,  such  as  the  purchase  of  Moffatt's 
assay  office  for  a  mint,  at  an  extravagant  price. 

The  end  of  his  term  approaching,  Broderick  strove 
to  secure  his  seat  for  himself;  first,  by  a  futile  propo 
sal  for  a  nomination  in  advance  of  the  regular  time, 
when  more  friends  could  be  mustered  ;  secondly,  by 
packing  the  state  convention  with  his  adherents. 
Here  also  he  was  foiled  by  the  activity  of  Gwin's 
men,  who,  with  a  more  complete  organization,  carried 
the  election  of  the  two  congressmen,  J.  W.  Denon, 
later  governor  of  Kansas,  and  V.  T.  Herbert  of  un 
savory  fame,  &&&  a  majority  for  the  legislature^*^ 
fflttph^ao-  that  a  joint  convention  gave  them  43 
members,  known  as  anti-electionists  or  bolters,  while 
the  electionists  or  Broderick  men  numbered  only  28, 
the  whisrs  having  42.  The  senatorial  contest  could 


60  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

not  therefore  be  won  by  Broderick,  but  he  managed 
to  humiliate  his  opponents  by  withholding  the  tri 
umph  from  them  and  gaining  time  for  himself. 

Turning:  his  attention  once  more  to  the  state  con- 

^5 

ventions,  he  secured  the  control  and  the  nominations. 
The  reason  for  this  success  lay  in  the  formation  of 
a  new  party.  A  proportion  of  discontented  whigs 
and  democrats  in  the  United  States  had  agreed  to 
form  a  new  affiliation,  aiming  to  unite  the  north  and 
south,  one  of  their  main  principles  being  a  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  compromise,  HMtokriaaig  slavery  north  of 
36°  30'  latitude,  on  the  ground  that  the  north  was  un 
justly  encouraging  an  immigration  of  low  foreigners, 
and  surrendering  to  them  land  belonging  equally  to 
the  south.  This  American  or  know-nothing  party 
found  many  adherents  in  California,  on  the  additional 
grounds  that  foreigners  were  carrying  away  the  gold 
of  the  coast,  and  bringing  in  a  low  race-competition 
with  labor.  The  democrats  embraced  a  large  number 
of  Irish  and  Germans,  who  felt  insulted  by  the  pro 
posed  restriction,  and  another'section  which  had  been 
disappointed  by  the  absorption  of  patronage  by  south - 
V  erners.  Both  of  these  classes  Broeferick  won  to  his 
standard.  In  despair  over  the  wide  defection,  Gwin 
joined  fortes  with  the  know-nothings,  and  helped  them 
to  elect  J.  Neely  Johnson  for  governor  by  a  vote  of 
51,157  against  the  Broderick  vote  of  46,220  for  Big- 
ler.  Johnson  was  a  lawyer  from  southern  Indiana, 
who  had  served  as  city  and  district  attorney.  Subse 
quently  he  sat  on  the  supreme  bench  in  Nevada. 
Bigler  resumed  the  practice  of  law,  and  served  a  few 
3rears  later  as  minister  to  Chili,  railway  commissioner, 
and  collector.  He  died  at  Sacramento  in  1871. 

The  know-nothings  were  forced  to  carry  out  some 
of  their  promised  reforms  under  the  significant  ad 
monitions  of  the  vigilance  committee,  which  in  1856 
rose  a  second  time  to  purify  in  particular  a  corrupt 
local  administration,  and  to  sustain  the  improvement 
by  the  formation  of  a  people's  party  at  the  metropo- 


THE  KNOW-NOTHINGS.  61 

lis.  Their  strength  was  wholly  fictitious;  for  no 
sooner  did  the  old  parties  offer  substantial  inducements 
than  large  numbers  returned  to  their  allegiance.  The 

C7  O 

final  blow  to  the  ephemeral  coalition  was  given  by  the 
formation  of  the  republican  party,  which  appeared 
during  this  year  in  the  presidential  contest  with  Fre 
mont  as  a  figure-head,  while  the  know-nothings  and 
whigs  rallied  round  Fillmore,  and  the  reunited  demo- 
crats  round  Buchanan.  Fremont's  popularity  had 
here  been  undermined  by  his  contracts  and  other  sus 
picious  transactions,  and  the  republican  organization 
was  too  recent  to  inspire  confidence.  California,  ac 
cordingly,  gave  nearly  one  half  of  her  votes  to  swell 
the  democratic  triumph,  both  in  state  and  federal 
circles. 

The  success  was  greatly  due  to  Broderick's  control 
of  the  convention,  and  its  nominations,  whereby  he 
hoped  to  gain  credit  with  the  federal  authorities,  and 
a  sufficient  majority  in  the  legislature  to  assure  his 
own  election  to  the  senate.  It  so  happened  that 
"Weller's  term  was  about  to  expire,  and  as  this  would 
be  the  longer  one,  Gwin's  place  having  now  been 
vacant  for  some  time,  Broderick  proposed  to  secure 
it,  first,  by  prevailing  on  the  legislature  in  caucus  to 
fill  this  seat  irregularly  in  advance  of  the  other ;  sec 
ondly,  by  bargaining  for  additional  support  among 
other  candidates,  notably  Latham  and  Gwin,  with 
the  intimation  to  each  that  he  should  be  the  choice 
/or  colleague.  Both  man^uvres__succeeded,  and 
Broderick  obtained  Weller's  seat. 

Thus  secure,  he  resolved  to  extort  further  advan 
tages  for  himself  from  the 'candidates  for  the  short 
term,  and  on  Gwin  offering  to  surrender  all  patronage, 
he  threw  over  Latham.  Broderick  thought  it  better 
for  himself  to  side  with  a  man  who  was  popular  both 
with  the  federal  administration  and  the  people  of  Cali 
fornia.  As  for  the  price  demanded,  he  considered  it 
only  fair  that  northern  men  should  taste  the  sweets 
of  office  so  long  reserved  for  the  south.  He  had  mis- 


62  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA, 

calculated  his  strength,  however,  for,  on  arriving  at 
Washington,  he  was  scowled  upon  as  an  interloper 
who  had  abused,  a  momentary  hold  on  the  chivalrous 
Gwin.  His  recommendations  to  office  were  almost 
wholly  ignored,  and  Gwin's  advice  governed  the  lead- 
cy  and  most  numerous  appointments. 
Broderick  returned  to  California  in  1858,  deeply 
\7  mortified,  but  with  the  hope  t^at  his  influence  would 
make  itself  felt  in  the  nomination  for  the  governorship. 
But  his  discomfi/ture  at  the  capital,  notably  in  failing 
to  procure  the  expected  rewards  for  his  supporters,  and 
his  double-dealing  in  securing  the  senatorship,  had 
roused  so  many  foes,  that  he  thought  it  prudent  to 
hold  aloof.  His  opponent,  Weller,  who  had  returned 
amid  ovations,  received  the  governorship.  With  addi 
tional  motives  for  disgust,  Broderick  was  now  brooding 
over  schemes  for  retaliation.  The  occasion  presented 
itself  in  the  question  of  admitting  slavery  into  the  terri 
tories,  leaving  it  to  states  to  decide  on  its  retention. 
It  centered  in  Kansas,  where  the  federal  government 
had  aided  in  the  persecution  of  free-soil  men.  In  the 
United  States  senate  Douglas  was  the  only  member 
who  rose  in  opposition  to  slavery.  By  his  side  Brod 
erick  ranged  himself,  the  champion  of  labor,  eager  to 
attack  the  ranks  of  his  foes,  notwithstanding  his 
instructions  from  the  legislature  to  take  another 
course.  Unfortunately  for  himself  he  had  no  oia- 
torml  tact.  In  denouncing  the  president,  Lecomp- 
tonites,  and  the  slavery  party,  he  did  so  in  blunt  and 
caustic  terms,  which  laid  him  open  to  the  charge  of 
coarseness,  and  seriously  injured  the  cause. 

Condemned  by  the  legislature,  Broderick  hastened 
back  to  organize  the  anti-Lecompton  wing  of  the 
democratic  party,  and  fuse  with  the  republicans  on 
McKibben  for  congressman.  He  saw  no  other  way 
of  sustaining  the  kifty  cause  which  he  had  ^undertaken. 
Gwin  and  he  came  frequently  in  collision  during  the 
campaign,  and  both  his  policy  and  taunts  so  provoked 
the  chivalry  that  they  resolved  upon  removing  a  man 


MILTON   S.   LATHAM.  63 

so  dangerous  to  their  cause.  They  triumphed  at  the 
election,  and  M.  S  Latham,  who  had  been  so  ill-used 
by  Broderick,  was  elected  governor. 

On  the  very  next  day,  Terry,  as  judge  of  the  su 
preme  court,  resigned  his  seat  to  take  up  the  blud 
geon  on  behalf  of  his  party,  and  fight  the  senator. 
Broderick  had  himself  given  occasion  for  the  chal 
lenge,  and  his  friends  expected  him  to  offer  a  bold 
front.  Yet  he  had  a  mournful  presentiment  of  being 
destined  for  sacrificeobv^jsqme^  other  hand>jfhe_es- 
caped  from  Terry's.  They  met  on  HeptemBer  13, 
1859.  Broderick  fell.  "  They  have  killed  me  because 
I  was  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  a  cor 
rupt  administration,"  were  his  dying  words,  which 
sent  a  thrill  through  the  hearts  of  all  true  men. 

Milton  S.  Latham  was  a  lawyer,  born  in  Ohio,  of 
New  England  stock,  but  educated  in  Alabama  and 

O  ' 

there  impressed  with  democratic  ideas.  He  arrived 
in  California  in  1850.  A  few  months  later,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two,  he  was  sent  to  congress,  and  there 
exerted  himself  so  effectually  during  his  term  of  office 
as  to  receive  the  collectorship  of  San  Francisco  in 
1856.  He  stood  pledged  to  this  city  to  oppose  the 
obnoxious  bulk-head  bill,  which  proposed  to  grant  to 
a  monopoly  the  extreme  water-front  for  fifty  years. 
This  not  suiting  an  interested  clique  in  the  legisla 
ture,  he  was  elected  the  successor  of  Broderick  the 
day  after  his  inaugura/Tand  so  sent  out  of  the  way. 
The  lieutenant-governor,  T.  S.  Downey,  then  took 
the  executive  chair. 

Latham  entered  the  senate  to  share  in  the  most 
momentous  of  congressional  struggles,  and  California 
herself  became  the  scene  f«L^trife_betweeri.  the  fac- 
tions  of  the  two  great  parties.  The  relations  between 
the  northern  and  southern  states  were  approaching  a 
crisis.  The  former  were  determined  to  take  a  stand 
against  the  growing  pretensions  and  insolence  of  the 
slavery  party,  and  the  latter  declared  that  the  elec- 


C4  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

tion  of  a  republican  president  would  be  ground  for 
secession.  Upon  this  then  hinged  the  issue.  The 
Lecomptonites,  who  aimed  to  carry  slavery  into  the 
territories,  and  so  degrade  or  drive  out  white  labor, 
facilitating  their  retention  as  slave  states,  nominated 
for  their  candidate  J.  C.  Breckenridge  of  Kentucky, 
while  the  anti-Lecomptonites  chose  for  standard-bearer 
S.  A.  Douglas  of  Illinois,  the  sole  associate  of  Brod- 
erick  in  the  senate,  with  the  principle  that  slavery  in 
any  territory  was  to  be  optional  with  the  people,  not 
with  congress.  Gwin  and  Latham,  although  at  vari 
ance,  decided  for  the  former,  and  persuaded  the  entire 
democratic  delegation  to  join  them,  despite  instruc 
tions.  Gwin  hinted  at  a  Pacific  republic  bounded  by 
the  Rocky  mountains,  and  declared  that  in  case  of 
secession  California  would  side  with  the  south. 

The  legislature  had  indeed  given  no  meagre  cause 
for  the  assertion,  bypassing  in  1859  an  act  permitting 
the  southern  counties  below  the  36th  parallel  to  vote 
on  a  division  of  the  state.  The  result  was  a  two- 
thirds  vote  for  division,  chiefly  on  the  ground  of  un 
equal  taxation,  which  favored  the  mines  at  the  ex 
pense  of  this  agricultural  section.  The  legislature  of 
1860  reconsidered  the  subject,  and  urged  its  repre 
sentatives  to  oppose  its  execution  in  congress.  A 
minority  report  here  pointed  out  the  unconstitution 
ally  of  the  act,  supported  by  only  a  portion  of  the 
state,  and  as  state  rights  seriously  concerned  the 
party  in  power  at  the  time,  the  report  had  to  be 
heeded,  although  with  bad  grace. 

The  north  had  also  split  on  the  great  issue.  The 
whigs  had  mostly  been  transformed  into  republicans, 
whose  northern  and  union  principles  were  gaining 
wide  attention.  The  American  party  still  lingered, 
however,  although  now  denominated  the  constitutional 
union.  It  nominated  John  Bell  of  Tennessee  as  a 
compromise  candidate,  while  the  others  came  out 
boldly  for  a  stanch  northerner.  Seward,  as  the  fore 
most  republican  leader,  was  generally  expected  to  ob- 


REPUBLICAN  VICTORY.  65 

tain  the  nomination,  but  as  frequently  has  happened 
the  more  prominent  the  figure  the  greater  the  faction 
jealousy,  and  so  by  a  fortunate  accident  the  choice 
fell  on  one  little  known,  Abraham  Lincoln  of  Illinois. 

The  republicans  of  California  were  largely  com 
posed  of  young  men,  eager  for  fresh  issues  and  the 
advancement  of  the  state.  The  newness  of  the  party 
prompted  an  attitude  and  platform  that  should  win 
adherents,  and  such  was  its  success  that  it  assisted 
in  bringing  in  a  plurality  for  Lincoln  over  Douglas  of  w 
700  votes,  the  latter  surpassing  Breckenridge  by 
3,000.  Thus  was  overthrown  the  exultant  chivalry, 
which  within  one  year  turned  a  majority  of  nearly 
21,000  into  a  defeat. 

The  double  revulsion  against  the  Lecomptonites 
arose  partly  from  the  disinclination  to  be  drawn  into 
the  quarrel  between  the  north  and  south,  partly  from 
the  neglect  of  the  congressional  representatives.  Not 
a  little  was  due  to  the  murder  of  Broderick,  whose 
course  in  the  east,  once  condemned,  was  now  formally 
upheld  by  special  resolution  on  the  part  of  a  legisla 
ture  which,  although  still  very  largely  democratic, 
leaned  strongly  to  the  Douglas  side.  It  stood  bound 
against  any  bills  favoring  bulk-head  and  state  divis>  ~~^) 
*  ion  schemes,  and  did  its  duty,  submitting  instead 
several  amendments  to  the  constitution,  for  biennial 
legislative  sessions,  for  a  gubernatorial  term  of  four 
years,  and  a  change  in  the  judiciary  system,  which 
were  adopted. 

Gwin    being    politically    dead    to    California,    the 
Douglas    democrats,  supported  by  the    republicans, 
chose  for  his  successor,  James  A.  McDougaJJ,  a  tal 
ented   befc-- dissipated   lawyer  from   New   York,  who 
had  figured  as  attorney-general  in  Illinois  and  Cali 
fornia,  and  latterly  as  congressman.     |jU>  liulf  hearted 
was '-his-Hsapport  »£-4he-  administration-  that   lie  was 
;-    repudiated.    Latham  drifted  gradually  into .pronoun*«d 
^sfeu'eijtrldgas. 

In  California  the  popular  sentiment  for  the  union 

C.  B.— II.     5 


GOVERXM  EXT—  CALIFORNIA.    . 


was  becoming  so  expressed  that  the  legislature  con 
sidered  it  a  duty  to  formally  avow  its  loyalty  in  order 
not  to  encourage  secessionists  witfc.  a  Pacific  republic  v- 


i4e€k.  Moreover,  California's  present  great  object 
was  railway  connection  with  the  east,  aae^  other  in 
terests  tendi&g  to  pledge  her  to  the  uniohT  TKe 
north  responded  with  great  promptness  by  giving 
a  daily  mail,  by  promoting  the  completion  of  tele 
graph  connection  in  October,  1861,  aas&loy  pwekc 
ieg  the  all-important  railway,  and  so  confirmed  the 
fidelity  of  the  people.  Republican  associations  adopted 
the  term,  administration  union  clubs,  pressxand  pulpit 
lent  their  aid,  and  corporations  and  individuals  mani 
fested  their  disposition  by  a  wide  display  of  union 
flatrs,  which  alone  were  tolerated.  The  militia  was 

O      " 

organized  in  six  divisions  and  twelve  brigades,  with 
provisions  for  equipment  and  calling  into  service. 
To  every  demand  for  troops  California  responded  so 
freely  with  volunteers  that  no  levy  was  ever  required. 
A  special  tax  was  levied  to  pay  extra  bounty  to  recruits 
and  remuneration  to  volunteers,  and  for  this  and  other 
purposes,  such  as  encampments,  debt  was  increased 
to  more  than  $5,300,000.  The  direct  federal  tax  of 
$254,500,  apportioned  to  the  state,  was  paid  at  once 
in  advance  of  time.  The  contribution  to  the  sanitary 
commission  from  California  alone  was  more  than  $1,- 
200,000,  a  sum  largely  in  excess  of  contributions  from 
other  quarters;  and  official  steps  were  taken  to  sup 
press  all  disloyal  utterances  and  acts,  especially  in 
the  southern  counties,  where  volunteers  were  sta 
tioned  for  the  purpose.  Passports  were  required  to 
check  emigration  to  Texas. 

These  measures  were  ably  supported,  first  by  Gen 
eral  E.  A.  Sumner,  who  had  been  sent  in  all  haste  to 
replace  General  A.  S.  Johnston  in  command  of  the 
military  department.  The  change  was  opportune, 
for  Johnston  hastened  away  to  join  the  rebels  and  lay 
down  his  life  at  Shiloh  for  the  "lost  cause."  Sum- 
ner's  prompt  and  decisive  action  was  formally  declared 


PATRIOTISM  AND  POLITICS.  67 

by  the  legislature  to  have  saved  the  state  from  civil 
war.  He  was  early  succeeded  by  Colonel  G.  Wright 
and  he  by  General  McDowell,  who  were  no  less 
zealous. 

The  only  act  of  the  state  which  did  not  wholly  re 
spond  to  the  call  of  patriotism  was  the  refusal  to  re 
ceive  depreciated  paper  money  as  legal  tender,  for  the 
country  produced  gold,  and  business  had  been  estab 
lished  on  a  basis  of  gold  payments,  and  a  change 
would  have  created  serious  disturbance.  It  has  *lsa- 
•^eert-objeeted-fef>  that  Californians  cut  no  figure  in  the 
war.  The  reason  was  simply  that  while  she  freely 
offered  men,  they  were  required  on  the  coast,  to  sseer^ 
secession  to  guard  against  foreign  interference,  and  to 
hold  the  threatening  Indians  in  check.  In  other  re 
spects  she  supplied  more  than  her  share  of  money,  in 
taxes  and  gifts,  and  by  her  attitude  did  much  to  assist 
the  union  cause. 

During  this  state  of  affairs  the  republicans  naturally 
gained  the  ascendancy,  and  in  1861  theytefted  Lcland 
Stanford,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  party,  tftjfche 
gubernatorial  chair,  and  sent  Sargent,  Phelps,  and  Low 
to  congress.  In  1862  they  called  themselves  the  union 
party,  and  liberally  invited  all  loyal  democrats  to  jfoin. 
This  enabled  the  latter  to  replace  Latham  with  John 
Con  ness,  a  tye-  democratic  candidate  for  governor. 
The  new  senator  was  an  energetic  man,  and  brought 

task,  but  lie  was  likewise  a 


politician  who  exerted  his  influence  at  the  primary 
conventions  to  manipulate  the  ticket  to  his  own  liking. 
The  election  of  1863  awakened  special  interest,  on 
account  of  the  longer  terms  now  introduced  by  the 
constitutional  amendments,  the  governor  and  state 
officials  for  four  years  from  December,  a  legislature 
whose  senators  should  in  part  hold  over  for  four  years, 
and  a  new  bench  of  supreme  judges  to  sit  for  ten 
years.  F.  F.  Low,  late  collector  of  San  Francisco, 
became  governor,  and  T.  B.  Shannon,  W.  Higby, 
and  G.  Cole,  congressmen,  all  firm  union  uien. 


,- 


68  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

Shafter,  Sawyer,  Sanderson,  Currey,  and  Rhodes 
were  chosen  supreme  judges,  together  with  fourteen 
district  judges  and  forty-two  county  judges.  The 
tempting  prizes  had  attracted  a  copperhead  competi 
tion,  through  whom  secessionists  sought  to  gain  some 
spoils,  by  dilating  on  the  length  and  cost  of  the  war 
and  the  prospective  repetition  of  drafts  for  the  army. 
Although  defeated  by  a  majority  of  more  than 
20,000  their  arguments  left  a  certain  impression, 
which  in  1864,  during  the  presidential  election,  mani 
fested  itself  in  more  pronounced  disloyal  utterances, 
and  in  the  southern  counties  by  election  tricks  and 
outrages  on  union  voters.  The  cause  lay  partly  in 
the  influx  of  fugitives  from  the  harassed  eastern 
states.  The  assassination  of  Lincoln,  however,  who 
had  received  a  large  majority  also  in  California, 
created  for  a  time  so  bittej:  a  feeling  against  seces 
sionists,  attended  by  raids  on  democratic  newspaper 
offices,  that  southern  sympathies  had  to  be  subdued. 

The  loyalty  of  the  coast  had  been  rewarded  with 
concessions  for  a  transcontinental  railway,  which  was 
intended  also  to  bind  it  closer  to  the  union.  Such  a 
line  had,  in  fact,  become  for  several  reasons  almost 
a  national  necessity;  first,  to  check  the  threatened 
secession  of  California  and  other  Pacific  states  and 
territories;  second,  to  put  an  end  to  Indian  wars,  or 
at  least  to  shorten  their  term ;  and  third,  to  develop 
the  vast  and  then  almost  unpeopled  region  between 
the  Missouri  river  and  the  Pacific  ocean,  an  area 
forming  more  than  one  half  of  the  entire  surface  of 
the  union. 

Among  those  who  sought  to  manipulate  the  elections 
in  its  behalf  was  Senator  Conness.  Relying  too  much 
on  the  cohesion  of  the  union  party  and  his  own  man 
agement,  he  ventured  to  nominate  for  governor  G.  C. 
Gorham,  a  man  hateful  to  San  Francisco  for  his  com 
plicity  in  the  water-front  scheme,  and  marked  as  an 
obnoxious  lobbyist  in  a  legislature,  only  too  willing 


DEMOCRATS  AND  REPUBLICANS.  69 

to  favor  wealthy  corporations.  Other  nominations 
pointed,  moreover,  so  clearly  to  a  prostitution  of  party 
principles  for  place  and  money,  that  a  number  of  the 
purest  men  seceded,  to  form,  in  protest,  the  national 
republican  party.  The  split  served  to  strengthen  the 
democrats,  who  likewise  gained  numerous  adherents 
from  other  union  seceders,  and  from  the  working 
classes,  by  artful  heralding  of  reforms  and  declara 
tions  against  monopoly  and  war  rates.  The  result 
was  their  capture  of  the  executive  office  and  of  most  of 
the  assembly  seats.  The  union  party,  founded  on  pure 
and  patriotic  principles,  was  wrecked,  and  state  poli 
tics  returned  to  their  wallowing  in  the  mire. 

The  new  governor,  H.  H.  Haight,  was  a  lawyer, 
born  at  Rochester,  New  York,  in  1825,  educated  at 
Yale,  and  admitted  to  the  bar  at  St.  Louis,  whence 
he  came  with  his  father  to  practice  his  profession  in 
San  FrancjacQf  Mid  ie  niuk  fui  plait. 

Conness'  seat  in  the  federal  senate  was  filled  by 
Eugene  Casserly,  a  pure  and  accomplished  lawyer  of 
Irish  birth,  above  chicanery,  and  a  worthy  colleague 
of  Cornelius  Cole,  a  republican  lawyer  from  New 
York,  whose  election  some  time  before,  to  succeed 
McDougall,  was  marked  as  porhcipo  Ab»*^nfer3ena- 


torial  cqntesj^in  the  state  not  governed  by  cliques. 

In  the  legislature  of  1867-8  a  republican  senate 
held  in  check  a  democratic  assembly,  and  few  ob 
jectionable  bills  found  passage.  This  was  not  due, 
,  to  superiority  of  character  among  republi 


cans,  who  had,  in  a  measure,  been  spoiled  by  a  long 
run  of  success,  for  the  democrats  were  cautiously  try 
ing  to  regain  public  confidence,  and  on  many  proposi 
tions  they  exhibited  greater  self-restraint  than  the 
others,  as  shown  partly  in  the  senatorial-  choice. 
Their  declaration  that  they  would  never  submit  to  the 
dictates  of  a  negro  vote,  though  savoring  of  southern 
sentiment,  won  so  wide  an  approval  that  at  the 
presidential  election  of  1868,  when  republican  voters 
came  forward  in  special  strength  to  honor  a  national 


70  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

hero,  the  democrats  managed  to  reduce  their  majority 
to  a  meagre  500,  as  compared  with  18,000  four  years 
previously.  The  republicans  re-asserted  themselves 
in  this  respect,  and  continued  to  give  a  majority  for 
republican  presidential  candidates  during  the  next 
twenty  years,  although  the  other  party  alternated  in 
state  victories. 

The  a^empt  of  the  railway  to  secure1  Goat  island 
as  aNterminus.*fiwtaed  many  even  of  the  republicans, 
who  so  far  had  been  the  promoters  of  such  roads. 
By  putting  forward  an  anti- monopolist  candidate 
for  governor,  in  the  person  of  Newton  Booth,  in 
1871,  they  regained  confidence,  and  elected  their 
candidate,  together  with  three  congressmen  and  a 
large  majority  in  the  lower  house.  The  railway 
nevertheless  -obtained  control  of  the-  legislature. 
The  consequence  was  a  split.,  in  the  party.  The 
seceders,  calling  themselves  independents,  although 
facetiously  termed  Dolly  Vardens,  insisted  on  the 
necessity  of  curtailing  the  power  of  monopolies,  by 
regulating  fares  and  freights,  and  devising  an  irriga 
tion  system  for  the  state.  So  commendable  a  plat 
form  produced  a  large  rally,  particularly  among  the 
farmers,  and  the  reformers  secured  a  majority  in  the 
assembly,  and  passed  several  bills  in  conformity  with 
their  views. 

Among  the  results  was  the  election  to  both  the 
vacated  seats  in  the  tl-.  -S.  senate  of  anti-monopolists, 
namely*  Judge  J.  S.  Hager,  ^  democratic  lawyer  from 
New  York,  prominently  identified  with  California 
since  1849,  and  Governor  Booth,  who  resigned  the 
executive  post  to  the  lieutenant-governor,  Romualdo 
Pacheco,  a  native  Californian.  Booth  was  an  Indi 
ana  lawyer  who  had  acquired  a  fortune  in  mercantile 
pursuits  in  California,  together  with  a  reputation 
for  integrity  arid  ability  that  gained  for  him  high 
political  honors.  At  the  next  vacancy  the  republi 
cans  sent  to  the  senate  A.  A.  Sargent,  a  printer  of 
Massachusetts,  who  in  California  became  editor, 


BUSINESS  DEPRESSION.  71 

lawyer,  and  also  a  politician  of  skill  and  influence. 
In  1882  he  was  sent  as  minister  to  Germany,  but 
received  so  chilling  a  reception  at  the  aristocratic 
court  of  Berlin  that  he  resigned. 

O 

In  1875  an  additional  division  of  the  republican 
party  enabled  the  democrats  to  reassert  themselves  in 
the  election  for  governor  of  William  Irwin,  an  editor 
and  college  professor  from  Ohio,  who  had  long  sat  in 
the  legislature,  and  in  securing  two  congressmen. 
During  Irwin's  tenure  of  office  the  working  classes 
resumed  the  agitation  of  the  collapsed  reform  party 
against  monopoly  and  cognate  evils  in  so  effective  a 
manner  as  to  procure  a  decided  change  in  affairs. 

The  attention  of  the  humbler  classes  to  the  growth 
of  capital,  and  its  intrusion  in  politics  and  on  popular 
rights,  had  been  first  roused  by  the  pressure  of  hard 
times.  The  close  of  the  war  and  the  opening  of  the 
railway  both  tended  to  undermine  a  number  of  manu 
facturing  industries,  which  had  sprung  up  on  the 
strength  of  the  distance  and  difficulty  of  communica 
tions  with  the  east.  The  influx  of  fugitives  during 
the  war,  and  the  return  now  of  the  richer  portion  of 
them,  together  with  residents  bent  on  visiting  and 
travelling,  increased  the  depression  in  business. 
Labor  began  to  clamor  against  competition,  and  for 
shorter  working  hours,  partly  with  a  view  to  give 
work  to  a  larger  number.  For  the  promotion  of 
these  aims  trades- unions  were  formed,  which,  with 
numerical  strength,  acquired  political  significance. 

The  cry  of  competition  was  directed  almost  exclu 
sively  against  the  Chinese,  whose  economic  habits 
and  abstemious  mode  of  life  enabled  them  to  accept 
lower  wages  than  would  suffice  for  the  white  work 
man,  with  wife  and  children  to  provide  for  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  comparatively  exacting  require 
ments  of  American  society.  They  had  begun  to 
enter  during  the  glow  of  the  first  gold  excitement. 
By  1852  their  number  exceeded  18,000,  and  the  in 
crease  continued  until  California  alone  contained  fully 


72  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

116,000  in  1876.  Aliens  in  race  and  customs,  they 
found  no  fellowship  among  the  white  people,  and 
their  consequent  isolation  tended  to  deprive  them  of 
public  sympathy.  The  hostility  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
miners  toward  foreigners  soon  concentrated  wholly 
against  the  Mongolians,  and  in  1855  the  legislature 
joined  in  their  persecution  by  means  of  oppressive 
taxes.  The  class  of  employers  favored  them,  how 
ever,  as  useful  and  even  indispensable  adjuncts  for  un 
folding  primary  resources  and  laying  the  foundation  for 
progressive  enterprises.  They  proved  to  be  more 
docile  and  reliable  than  other  laborers,  and  were  ac 
cordingly  welcomed  by  manufacturers,  farmers,  arid 
housewives.  Their  absorption  of  a  number  of  leading 
industries,  and  competition  with  white  employes,  lent 
strength  to  the  renewed  outcry  against  them,  as  did 
the  Burlingame  treaty  of  1868,  under  which  they  were 
accorded  equal  privileges  with  the  most  favored  na 
tions  on  American  soil.  Congress  had  so  far  heeded 
the  appeal  of  the  state  as  to  send  a  special  commission 
to  investigate  the  trouble,  but  its  report  struck 
against  the  national  tradition  of  a  free  country  open 
to  all,  and  if  to  low  whites  and  blacks,  evidently,  also, 
to  low  yellow  races.  Nevertheless,  congress  was 
impelled  by  riotous  demonstrations  on  the  part  of 
Californian  workmen  to  arrange  for  an  amendment  of 
the  treaty  with  China,  and  to  restrict  immigration 
thence.  Enough  loopholes  remained,  however,  to 
alarm  the  anti-Chinese  element,  and  more  stringent 
limitations  were  attempted. 

During  the  riotous  agitation  in  1877-8,  capital  as 
well  as  monopoly  was  seriously  arraigned  by  the  mob 
in  incendiary  demonstrations.  A  panic  in  the  min 
ing-stock  market,  attended  by  a  commercial  crisis, 
lent  intensity  to  the  feeling  against  manipulating 
stock-dealers  and  mine-owners.  Land-owners  were 
denounced  for  hindering  settlement,  development,  and 
employment  by  keeping  large  tracts  from  the  market. 
The  cultivation  of  large  fields  under  the  easy  methods 


THE  NEW  CONSTITUTION.  73 

permitted  by  the  benign  climate  and  soil  of  California, 
operated  against  regular  employment  of  men,  and  led 
to  long  seasons  of  idleness  and  to  vagrancy.  For 
this,  and  more,  capital  was  blamed ;  and  so  threaten 
ing  became  the  attitude  of  the  rabble  at  San  Fran- 

o 

cisco,  that  the  vigilance  committee,  slumbering  since 
1856,  felt  it  necessary  to  come  forth  and  subdue  the 
movement.  The  leader  of  the  incendiaries  was  an 
Irish  drayman  named  Dennis  Kearney.  Finding 
that  intimidations  did  not  answer,  he  endeavored  to 
perfect  the  organization  of  his  followers,  and  bring 
tl  101  altogether  with  some  more  orderly  sympathizers, 
into  the  workingman's  party,  which  advocated  the 
abrogation  of  the  Chinese  treaty,  equalization  of  taxes, 
judicial  reform,  and  other  measures, 

Other  parties  now  joined  in  renewing  the  demand 
for  a  revision  of  the  state  constitution.  The  existing 
one,  copied  after  remote  agricultural  states,  was  de 
clared  unsuited  to  the  peculiar  climate,  resources,  and 
conditions  of  California.  Taxes  should  be  so  regu 
lated  as  to  lift  them  above  the  whims  of  a  changing 
and  easily  corrupted  legislature,  and  so  with  expendi 
tures,  grants,  etc.  A  constitutional  convention  was 
accordingly  agreed  upon,  which  met  in  September 
1878,  with  152  delegates,  including  85  non-partisan, 
50  workingmen,  and  17  republicans  and  democrats, 
35  foreign-born  being  chosen  to  prepare  laws  in  an 
American  state ! 

The  influence  of  the  working  class  is  perceptible  in 
several  clauses  of  the  new  organic  law  for  the  pro 
tection  of  labor  against  capital.  A  commendable 
proposition  for  a  property  qualification  for  voters  was 
promptly  set  aside.  The  legislature  was  forbidden  to 
charter  roads,  lend  the  credit  of  the  state,  grant  aid 
to  corporations  or  individuals,  or  dispose  of  water 
which  pertained  to  public  use ;  special  legislation  was, 
in  fact,  largely  restricted.  Corporations  were  so 
closely  regulated  in  management,  taxation,  and  so 
forth,  and  railways  so  subordinated  to  a  commission  for 


74  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

watching  over  charges  and  traffic,  that  they  raised 
serious  objections,  and  many  capitalists  departed  from 
the  state.  Taxation  was  applied  to  all  property,  ac 
cording  to  value,  including  moneys,  credits,  bonds, 
mortgages,  and  franchises;  land  cultivated  or  not  was 
to  be  equally  taxed  when  in  the  same  grade  and  posi 
tion,  in  order  to  discourage  large  holdings,  particularly 
for  speculation.  The  school  fund  was  to  be  applied 
only  to  primary  and  grammar  schools.  State  indebt 
edness  was  limited  to  $300,000,  save  in  case  of  war, 
or  by  special  consent  of  voters.  The  election  of  the 
secretary  of  state  was  assigned  to  the  people.  The 
supreme  court  was  to  consist  of  one  chief  justice, 
with  six  associates,  in  two  departments,  elected  by 
the  people  for  twelve  years,  with  a  salary  of  $6,000. 
County  and  district  courts  were  replaced  by  superior 
courts,  one  in  each  county,  with  one  or  two  judges 
elected  for  six  years,  with  a  salary  of  $3,000,  San 
Francisco  being  assigned  twelve  judges.  In  civil 
cases  the  verdict  of  a  majority  of  the  jury  was  ad 
missible,  and  regulations  were  added  to  ensure  speedy 
trials.  The  government  of  cities  was  left  almost  en 
tirely  to  their  inhabitants,  so  as  to  obviate  legislative 
schemes,  but  thereby  they  were  also  more  exposed  to 
partisan  votes,  notably  from  alow  suburban  unit  class, 
and  to  the  corrupt  ruling  of  supervisors.  Consoli 
dated  cities  and  counties  with  a  population  not  ex 
ceeding  100,000  should  have  two  boards  of  supervisors. 
No  county  or  municipality  could  spend  more  than  its 
yearly  income,  save  by  consent  of  two-thirds  among 
the  voters.  The  presence  of  foreigners  ineligible  to 
become  citizens  was  declared  to  be  detrimental  to  the 
state.  The  coolie  system  was  forbidden.  Eight 
hours  were  to  constitute  a  day's  work  on  all  public 
contracts. 

The  constitution  was  widely  objected  to  as  hamper 
ing  legislation  with  too  many  restrictions  ;  introducing 
an  untried  plan  of  judiciary ;  favoring  non-resident 
holders  of  property  in  taxation  ;  taking  away  the  con- 


THE  NEW  CONSTITUTION.  75 

trol  of  railways  from  a  large  legislative  body,  and 
leaving  it  to  three  commissioners,  with  power  to 
establish  rates ;  many  evils  which  promised  to  issue  . 
from  such  a  constitution  WOTD — ioft  irremediable. 
So  many  doubts  rose  even  among  workingmen  con 
cerning  it  that  San  Francisco,  their  stronghold,  ac 
tually  rejected  it,  and  the  farmers  alone,  allured  by  a 
lighter  taxation,  passed  it  by  a  small  majority,  and 
made  it  the  state  law.  Amendments  of  the  old  con 
stitution  would  have  answered  better,  for  the  new 
document  failed  in  its  main  objects,  to  regulate  cor 
porations  and  equalize  taxation.  Bribery,  corruption, 
Chinese,  and  other  ills  continued  to  flourish.  Amend 
ments  to  enforce  the  control  of  railways  were  early 
introduced,  but  were  rejected  by  voters.  San  Fran 
cisco  likewise  refused  to  adopt  any  one  of  the  several 
charters  submitted  to  her,  in  accordance  with  the  new 
organic  act. 

The  sway  of  foreigners  and  socialists,  as  impressed 
on  the  constitution,  roused  the  republicans  to  an  effort 
for  redeeming  the  state,  and  at  the  election  of  1879 
they  succeeded  in  installing  as  governor  George  C. 
Perkins,  a  prosperous  member  of  a  steamship  corpora 
tion,  and  a  native  of  Maine.  The  democrats  and 
workingmen  elected  the  supreme  judges,  but  the  re 
publicans  carried  the  congress  delegation,  and  obtained 
a  majority  in  the  state  senate,  and  practically  in  the 
assembly.  So  prompt  a  modification  of  the  newly  in 
augurated  state  of  affairs  was  greatly  due  to  moneyed 
influence.  The  late  reconstruction  party  was  prac 
tically  shattered.  Its  unthinking  element  could  not 
withstand  the  machinations  of  demagogue  instru 
ments,  as  indicated  by  the  choice  for  mayor  at  San 
Francisco. 

The  following  year  the  democrats  obtained  an  ex 
ceptional  though  slight  majority  for  General  Han 
cock  as  presidential  candidate,  but  the  republicans 
divided  with  them  the  congressmen,  and  gained  a  de 
cided  majority  in  the  legislature.  They  consequently 


76  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

selected  as  successor  of  Senator  Booth  John  F.  Mil 
ler,  a  former  state  senator  of  Indiana,  who  had  risen 
to  the  rank  of  major-general  during  the  union  war, 
after  which  he  served  as  collector  of  the  port  of  San 
Francisco,  and  became  president  of  the  Alaska  Com 
mercial  company.  He  assisted  to  carry  restrictive 
measures  against  the  Chinese.  Upon  his  death  in 
1886  the  term  was  completed  by  A.  P.  Williams,  a 
merchant  from  Maine,  and  chairman  of  the  republican 
state  central  committee.  The  following  year  a  dem 
ocratic  majority  in  the  legislature  replaced  him  with 
George  Hearst.  The  senator  appointed  by  the  demo 
cratic  legislature  of  1877-8,  James  T.  Farley,  a  law 
yer  from  Virginia,  long  in  the  legislature,  and  for  a 
time  speaker  of  the  house,  had  been  meanwhile  sup 
planted  by  Leland  Stanford,  late  republican  governor, 
so  that  the  two  parties  were  fairly  balanced  at  the 
national  capital. 

In  1881  the  republicans  were  numerically  ahead  in 
the  legislature ;  the  democrats  acquired  control  never 
theless  and  disgraced  the  session  by  wasting  the  lim 
ited  term  in  useless  discussion,  so  that  the  governor 
was  obliged  to  call  an  extra  session,  the  limitation  of 
which  was  needlessly  exceeded.  The  following  year 
they  affirmed  their  majority,  and  managed  to  squander 
additional  money  not  long  after  in  a  special  session 
for  amending  the  constitution  on  railway  regulations, 
which  ended  in  nothing;  nor  was  there  indeed  any 
shadow  of  excuse  for  thus  prolonging  the  session, 
and  causing,  without  any  tangible  result,  a  wanton 
waste  of  the  public  funds. 

The  presidential  election  of  1884  called  forth  the 
large  respectable  element,  seldom  interested  in  local 
agitations,  which  came  resolved  also  to  express  its  dis 
approval  of  the  legislative  proceedings.  The  result 
was  a  marked  reversal  by  a  republican  majority,  which 
secured  the  control  of  the  legislature  and  five  of  the 
six  congressmen,  besides  a  gain  of  several  San  Fran 
cisco  positions,  and  a  large  plurality  of  votes  for 


ELECTIONS  OF   1884-1886.  77 

Elaine,  the  presidential  candidate.  Two  years  later 
the  democrats  regained  a  certain  advantage  by  virtue 
of  a  republican  split,  and  elected  for  governor  Wash 
ington  Bartlett,  the  first  American  alcalde  of  San 
Francisco,  and  in  1882-6  one  of  her  most  esteemed 
mayors.  He  was  originally  a  printer  from  Georgia, 
who  had  founded  and  edited  a  number  of  newspapers 
in  this  his  adopted  state.  His  death  in  the  following 
year  brought  to  the  executive  office  R.  W.  Waterman, 
whose  popularity  had  obtained  for  him  the  lieutenant- 
governorship  on  the  republican  ticket.  Five  of  the 
congressmen  were  likewise  republican,  but  in  the 
legislature  the  other  party  obtained  control. 

The  resrime  of  Governor  Waterman,  though  not 

O  '  ^3 

distinguished  by  any  special  feature,  perhaps  for 
that  reason  more  than  any  other,  gave  satisfaction  to 
the  community,  for  a  people  is  never  so  well  ruled  as 
when  the  touch  of  the  ruler  is  imperceptible.  In  his 
message  for  1889  were  many  excellent  suggestions, 
among  others,  the  abolition  of  all  unnecessary  offices 
and  the  granting  of  liberal  appropriations  for  needed 
improvements. 

During  the  session  of  1888-9,  numerous  measures 

o  7 

were  adopted  by  the  legislature;  perhaps  the  most 
important  were  certain  acts  amending  and  supple 
menting  the  irrigation  laws.  Others  were  for  im 
proving  the  civil  code  of  procedure,  for  establishing 
a  reform  school  and  a  school  of  industry,  with  ap 
propriations  for  other  public  institutions  and  improve 
ments.  No  action  was  taken,  however,  on  the 
governor's  recommendation  that  remedies  be  applied 
for  the  suppression  of  the  so-called  "tramp  nuisance," 
one  growing  every  year  more  serious,  and  calling 
forth  urgent  requests  from  every  portion  of  the  state 
that  laws  be  enacted  for  its  abolition. 

Thus  I  have  briefly  traced  the  political  history  of 
California  from  the  date  of  the  Spanish  occupation 
down  to  the  most  recent  events  in  the  annals  of  our 


78  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

western  commonwealth.  With  much  to  regret  in 
the  past,  there  is  also  much  reason  for  well-grounded 
hope  in  the  future;  hope  that  at  some  not  distant 
day  the  social  and  political  condition  of  the  state  will 
be  in  keeping  with  her  material  greatness;  hope  that 
political  charlatanism  will  erelong  be  replaced  by  pure 
and  enlightened  government,  when  from  the  hetero 
geneous  materials  of  w^hich  our  community  is  com 
posed  shall  be  eliminated  their  baser  elements. 
Here  has  been  achieved  within  less  than  half  a  cen 
tury  more  than  was  ever  before  accomplished  in 
double  that  space  of  time  by  the  energy  and  intel 
ligence  of  man,  for  nowhere  else  can  be  found  such 
ability  and  enterprise,  such  boldness  of  plan,  such 
power  and  skill  in  execution.  And  here,  generations 
hence,  may  be  the  abode  of  all  that  is  choicest  in  the 
arts  and  sciences  of  the  world;  here  the  accumula 
tions  of  what  is  best  worth  preserving  in  the  sum  of 
all  human  experience;  and  here,  if  the  state  be  true 
to  herself,  may  be  developed  one  of  the  highest  types 
of  humanity  that  the  world  has  ever  produced. 

I  will  now  give  more  at  length  the  biographies  of 
some  w^ho  have  helped  to  raise  California  to  the 
proud  position  already  attained  among  the  sister 
hood  of  states. 


CHAPTER   II. 

LIFE  OF  LELAND  STANFORD. 

THE  QUALITY  OP  GREATNESS— ANCESTRY  AND  PARENTAGE — BOYHOOD  AKT> 
EDUCATION— LAW  PRACTICE  IN  WISCONSIN— MRS  STANFORD— EARLY 
CAREER  IN  CALIFORNIA— GOVERNOR — THE  CENTRAL  PACIFIC  RAILROAD 
— THE  SOUTHERN  PACIFIC  CONSOLIDATION — LELAND  STANFORD  JUNIOR 
— THE  UNIVERSITY;  ITS  PURPOSES  AND  ENDOWMENTS — THE  PALO  ALTO 
FARM — THE  VINA  RANCH — UNITED  STATES  SENATOR — POLITICAL  VIEWS 
— SUMMARY  oy  CAREER  AND  CHARACTER. 

IN  great  men  ability  comes  before  originality ;  for 
while  the  power  to  do  implies  the  presence  of  native 
ideas,  it  is  not  always  that  the  most  highly  gifted 
possess  the  quality  of  being  able.  Genius  is  not 
always  fantastical ;  the  great  man  may  possess  gen 
ius,  but  genius  alone  never  was  truly  great.  Ideality 
is  inspiration ;  invention,  mental  mechanics.  The 
thoughts  which  come  to  the  mind  of  genius,  freighted 
with  new  benefits  or  new  pleasures  to  the  human 
race,  often  spring  from  sources  beyond  the  practical. 
No  thanks  are  due  the  poet  for  writing  divinely,  nor 
to  the  philosopher  for  deciphering  nature  ;  they  can 
not  help  it.  Homer,  Plato,  Newton  are  the  evolu 
tion  of  omniscience,  and  stand  for  all  men  and  all 
time.  It  is  in  the  strength  and  universality  of  the 
great  man's  capabilities  that  his  greatness  consists, 
not  in  some  chance  inspiration  or  originality  of 
thought  or  action. 

Every  great  man 's  life  illustrates  one  or  more  of 
the  fundamental  principles  of  human  ethics,  and  the 
province  of  biography  is  to  discover  and  apply  those 

(79) 


80  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

principles.  As  the  demi-gods  of  mythology  were 
each  the  embodiment  of  some  dominant  idea,  so  the 
strong  men  of  these  latter  days  make  paramount  their 
genius  in  high  thought  or  poetic  circumstance.  Man 
was  made  for  nature  no  less  than  nature  for  man, 
the  material  in  nature  being  at  first  dominator,  but 
afterward  falling  more  and  more  under  subjection  to 
the  intellectual.  It  is  only  in  this  moral  application 
of  human  doing  that  we  may  hope  to  make  any  pro 
gress  in  the  study  of  our  race. 

A  man  is  prominent  in  his  day  in  some  degree  as 
he  is  enabled  to  forecast  the  future,  whether  in 
religion,  politics,  or  material  affairs.  His  religious 
creed  outlines  the  theology  of  the  future ;  his  princi 
ples  foreshadow  the  coming  government.  He  is  an 
outcome  of  the  existing  state  of  things,  evolved 
from  the  superiority  of  the  times,  created  while  cre 
ating.  The  efforts  of  strong  intellects  to  fathom  the 
inner  consciousness  of  their  own  natures,  or  to  solve 
any  of  the  problems  which  baffle  science  and  philoso 
phy  are  followed  with  deep  interest  by  all  thoughtful 
observers.  Even  though  the  results  be  not  wholly 
satisfactory  to  the  logical  mind,  much  is  to  be  learned 
thereby,  much  that  would  not  otherwise  be  known. 

There  are  many  examples  in  history  of  men  who 
have  made  their  mark  in  some  one  direction  after 
their  merits  had  long  remained  unrecognized  ;  but 
there  are  a  few  that  stand  preeminent  over  all  others 
of  their  day  or  generation  in  several  directions,  and 
few  whom,  as  in  the  case  of  Shakespeare,  it  has  taken 
a  dull-witted  world  three  or  four  centuries  fully  to 
appreciate. 

In  the  study  of  such  characters  as  those  of  Leland 
Stanford  and  his  colleagues  it  is  somewhat  puzzling 
to  know  where  or  how  to  begin.  They  are  different 
from  all  others  whom  we  meet ;  their  relations  to  us 
and  their  position  before  the  world  are  individual. 
They  belong  to  the  few  who  will  be  better  under 
stood  and  appreciated  as  time  passes  by.  Their 


LELAND  STANFORD.  81 

achievements  are  greater  than  our  minds  can  fully 
grasp  ;  their  future  influence,  far  down  the  centuries, 
it  is  not  given  unto  us  to  fathom.  Throughout  all 
time  their  deeds  will  propagate  themselves,  for  good 
as  their  acts  have  been  good,  for  evil  as  they  have 
been  evil ;  and  we  may  reasonably  expect  that  the 
results  will  be  great  in  proportion  as  the  achieve 
ments  were  great. 

All  men  possess  qualities  which,  properly  used, 
under  ordinary  conditions  lead  to  success ;  but  not 
all  those  who  are  greatly  gifted  in  ability  or  genius 
become  prominent.  Great  emotions  spring  only  from 
great  souls ;  it  is  the  narrow  mind  which  has  room 
only  for  petty  details ;  yet  details  are  essential  to 
every  day  affairs,  just  as  small  men  are  essential  to 
every  society ;  for  all  cannot  be  great,  else  there 
would  be  no  greatness,  and  without  the  insignificant 
details  there  could  be  no  great  ends  accomplished. 
The  details  attending  early  life,  particularly  the  early 
days  of  an  important  life,  are  most  of  all  important ; 
hence,  in  this  instance,  let  us  first  consider  these. 

Mr  Stanford  is  in  the  main  of  English  stock, 
though  with  Irish  blood  on  the  father's  side.  His 
ancestors  crossed  the  Atlantic  early  in  the  eight 
eenth  century,  settling  among  the  thrifty  farming 
community  of  the  Mohawk  valley.  His  native  place 
was  Watervliet,  New  York,  eight  miles  from  Albany, 
where  he  was  born  on  the  9th  of  March,  1824.  His 
father,  Josiah  Stanford,  was  a  native  of  Massachu 
setts,  and  came  to  New  York  with  his  parents  when 
four  years  of  age.  His  mother  was  Miss  Phillips, 
whose  parents  had  been  married  in  Boston,  moving 
thence  to  Vermont  and  later  to  New  York.  His 
orand  mother's  name  was  Roberts,  and  the  name 

CJ 

Leland  comes  from  the  Lelands  of  Vermont. 

The  old  homestead  farm,  called  Elm  grove,  was  on 
the  road  from  Albany  to  Schenectady,  and  there  for 
many  years  lived  Josiah  Stanford,  cultivating  his 
lands  and  rearing  his  family,  Yet  he  was  more  con- 

C.  B.— II.     6 


82  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

tractor  than  farmer,  as  indeed  was  his  father  before 
him,  the  latter  having  aided  in  the  construction  of  the 
turnpike  between  Albany  and  Schenectady.  Josiah 
built  roads  and  bridges  in  various  parts  of  the  coun 
try  and  was  greatly  interested  in  the  Erie  canal, 
being  one  of  its  first  advocates,  and  carefully  watch 
ing  its  progress  until  the  end.  It  was  the  forerunner 
of  very  important  internal  improvements,  the  loco 
motive  following  not  long  afterward.  It  is  not  a 
little  remarkable  that  when,  in  1829,  the  legislature 
of  New  York  granted  a  charter  for  a  railroad  between 
Albany  and  the  old  Dutch  town  of  Schenectady,  the 
father  of  him  who  was  destined  to  drive  the  golden 
spike  which  should  complete  the  continental  track 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  should  be  among  the  foremost 
in  this  new  enterprise,  taking  large  contracts  for 
grading  and  pushing  forward  the  work  with  all  his 
accustomed  intelligence  and  energy.  Thus  the  rail 
way  work  of  the  father,  which  was  so  grandly  supple 
mented  by  the  son,  began  with  that  first  fifteen  miles 
of  road  out  from  Albany,  forming  a  link  in  the  trans 
continental  chain.  A  railroad  was  something  strange 
in  those  days,  and  the  Stanfords  lived  so  near  it  that 
Leland's  Saturdays  were  passed  in  watching  the 
work,  in  which  even  then  he  was  greatly  interested. 
Both  of  Leland's  parents  possessed  marked  charac 
teristics,  physical  and  mental.  The  father  was  of 
powerful  frame,  yet  active,  the  body  keeping  full  pace 
with  the  mind,  which  was  never  idle.  As  the  father 
of  a  family  he  was  a  liberal  provider;  as  an  American 
citizen  he  felt  his  responsibility  and  always  took  an 
active  interest  in  public  affairs.  The  mother  was  like 
wise  very  energetic,  possessing  great  will  power ;  she 
was  a  fine  conversationalist  and  thoroughly  devoted  to 
her  family.  There  were  seven  sons,  of  whom  Leland 
was  the  fourth,  a  daughter,  the  first  born,  having  died 
in  infancy.  Six  of  the  brothers  came  to  California, 
though  but  one  besides  Leland  remained,  these  two 

f 


LELAND  STANFORD.  83 

being  early  connected  in  business  in  their  adopted 
state. 

They  formed  a  busy  band  of  workers  on  this  Elm 
grove  farm ;  father,  mother,  and  children,  with  not  a 
drone  in  the  hive.  The  father,  a  born  leader  of  men, 
had  sturdy  followers  in  his  sons.  Even  to  them  he 
seldom  said  "  Go,"  but  "  Come,  boys  ; "  and  of  all  the 
people  round  they  were  first  at  their  task  and  the  last 
to  quit  the  field  at  night.  To  be  put  to  work  at  five 
o'clock  of  a  New  York  winter  morning  would  seem 
cold  comfort  indeed  to  the  average  young  man  of 
these  degenerate  days. 

Until  twelve  years  of  age  Leland  attended  the 
common  schools,  when  change  of  residence  removing 
him  from  their  neighborhood,  for  the  three  following 
years  he  had  teachers  at  home.  Then  followed  a 
period  of  two  years  during  which  he  assisted  his 
father  in  carrying  out  a  contract  for  the  delivery  of  a 
large  quantity  of  wood  from  his  lands  adjacent. 

Too  great  importance  cannot  be  attached  to  this 
kind  of  training,  wherein  the  physical  is  developed 
equally  with  the  mental,  the  two  being  unfolded  side 
by  side  into  that  type  of  manhood  which  assures  the 
fullest  success.  A.  few  years  at  school  at  Clinton, 
where  he  was  long  remembered  as  a  large,  well-favored 
boy,  genial,  kindly,  and  affectionate^  with  a  sunny 
temperament  and  a  happy  disposition,  making  him 
a  favorite  with  all,  and  the  age  of  twenty-one  was 
attained ;  when  young  Stanford  entered  the  law- 
office  of  Wheaton,  Dolittle  &  Hadley,  and  after  three 
years  of  study  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 

From  his  earliest  days  he  was  somewhat  of  a  stu 
dent,  especially  of  such  things  as  pleased  him.  When 
a  boy  on  the  farm  every  leisure  moment  found  him 
with  a  book  in  his  hand ;  whenever  he  came  into  the 
house,  or  whenever  he  had  a  spare  half-hour,  he  would 
fill  up  the  time  with  reading.  People  wondered  how 
he  found  time  to  read  so  much ;  he  would  have  told 
them  that  it  was  by  appropriating  the  moments  whicjh 


84  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

would  otherwise  have  been  wasted.  He  would  sit  up 
at  nights  and  read,  and  could  not  lie  down  to  rest 

O 

without  his  customary  food  and  exercise  for  the  brain. 
Later  in  life,  no  matter  how  seven:  his  task,  no  mat 
ter  how  weary  his  frame,  he  would  always  read  when 
the  day's  work  was  done,  then,  laying  aside  his  book 
would  often  lose  himself  in  thought.  During  such 
moments  of  solitude  and  reflection  were  planned  some 
of  his  greatest  and  most  successful  enterprises. 

His  grandfather  used  to  say  of  him  that  he  would 
be  a  judge  ;  so  earnest  and  serious  was  he  in  his  intel 
lectual  pursuits,  and  by  this  title  he  was  known  among 
his  family  and  friends.  His  omnivorous  appetite  for 
reading  and  study  could  not  be  indulged  without 
inspiring  him  with  ambition ;  and  as  the  books  he 
devoured  were  of  a  moral  and  useful  tendency,  the 
result  could  not  be  otherwise  than  beneficial.  While 
yet  a  boy,  he  determined  to  do  something  for  his  fel 
low-men,  should  his  life  be  spared.  The  lives  of 
Washington  and  of  Franklin,  by  Weems,  greatly 
interested  him ;  also  the  almanac  of  Poor  Richard. 
How  his  heart  stirred  within  him  as  he  gazed  upon 
the  picture  of  Putnam  emerging  from  the  den  of  the 
wolf,  the  men  lifting  him  out  as  he  held  the  animal 
by  the  ears !  Weems'  invention  of  the  truthfulness 
of  Washington^ — the  story  of  the  hatchet  and  cherry- 
tree,  and  the  boy  who  could  not  tell  a  lie — could  not 
fail  to  exercise  a  powerful  influence  on  his  earnest  and 
reflective  mind. 

Then  there  was  the  life  of  General  Francis  Marion, 
purporting  to  have  been  written  by  Harrie  Marion, 
a  most  remarkable  writer,  but  whose  real  author  was 
Weems.  Harrie  was  a  southerner,  it  was  said,  who  after 
the  revolutionary  war  visited  Marion,  and  discussed 
with  him  the  question  of  slavery,  showing  how  great 
an  evil  it  was  to  South  Carolina,  how  it  bred  igfno- 

7  O 

ranee  among  the  masses,  and  how  much  lower  they 
were  in  the  scale  of  humanity  than  the  people  of 
Massachusetts.  It  was  the  ignorance  and  debase- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  85 

ment  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  he  said,  that 
prolonged  the  war  for  two  years,  and  caused  the  loss 
of  so  many  more  lives.  The  young  and  impression 
able  reader  was  on  the  side  of  the  eloquent  and  patrio 
tic  author,  of  course  ;  but  it  nevertheless  sounded 
strange,  even  to  his  youthful  ears,  such  speech  from 
a  southerner. 

Taken  as  a  whole,  as  before  remarked,  it  was  a 
splendid  preparation  for  the  life  before  him,  givino- 
him  what  money  could  not  buy,  a  magnificent  physi 
cal  organization,  thrifty  habits,  keen  perceptive  fac 
ulties,  and  a  well-balanced  mind — in  a  word,  that 
perfect  equipoise  which  carried  him  through  all  the 
various  experiences  of  life  and  made  him  what  he  is. 
Like  many  of  the  world's  most  original  thinkers,  he 
was,  during  this  early  period  of  his  career,  somewhat 
impatient  of  social  conventionalisms  or  too  strictly 
scholastic  methods  in  education.  Nature  was  ever 
his  first  and  favorite  teacher,  and  it  was  during  this 
open-air  life  that  his  most  valuable  experience  was 
gained,  that  he  was  led  to  the  closer  observation  of 
material  things  by  which  alone  the  natural  sciences 
can  be  properly  understood.  In  his  schooldays  he 
would  not  strive  to  outshine  his  companions  ;  in  later 
years  he  gave  little  thought  to  brilliant  reputation  or 
indeed  to  the  opinions  of  others  regarding  himself. 
It  satisfied  him  to  know  that  he  might  reflect  for 
himself,  and  possessed  of  the  facts  he  could  draw  his 
own  conclusions.  Thus  originality  of  thought  and 
independence  of  opinions  were  early  developed  as 
among  the  leading  characteristics  of  his  mind. 

Young  as  he  was,  when  the  question  of  a  railroad 
to  Oregon  was  first  agitated,  Leland  Stanford  took  a 
lively  interest  in  the  measure.  Among  its  chief 
advocates  at  that  early  day  was  Mr  Whitney,  one  of 
the  engineers  in  the  construction  of  the  Mohawk  and 
Hudson  river  railway.  On  one  occasion  when  Whit 
ney  passed  the  night  at  Elm  grove,  Leland  being 
then  thirteen  years  of  age,  the  conversation  ran 


86  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

largely  on  this  overland  railway  project,  and  the 
effect  upon  the  mind  of  such  a  boy  may  be  readily 
imagined.  The  remembrance  of  that  night's  discus 
sion  between  Whitney  and  his  father  never  left  him, 
but  bore  the  "grandest  fruits.  Except  to  those  who 
see  a  divine  providence  working  in  the  hearts  and 
minds  of  men,  so  simple  a  coincidence  may  appear 
somewhat  strange  and  startling.  We  hear  much  said 
of  self-made  men,  a  somewhat  meaningless  term  as 
ordinarily  applied.  All  men  are  in  a  sense  self-made  ; 
and  those  who  depend  wholly  upon  a  collegiate  course 
of  education  for  their  higher  development  are  usually 
the  poorest  made  of  all.  The  best  training  is  not 
that  which  rivets  still  firmer  ancient  intellectual  fet 
ters,  but  that  which  engenders  originality  of  thought 
and  the  formation  of  ideas. 

It  is  in  this  latter  category  that  we  now  find  young 
Stanford.  He  has  had  schooling  enough  to  teach 
him  how  to  acquire  knowledge,  without  having  laid 
upon  his  faculties  a  load  of  useless  rules  and  formu 
las.  Scarcely  had  he  left,  school  before  the  philosophy 
of  history  and  political  economy  attracted  his  earnest 
consideration,  and  brought  to  his  mind  the  purest 
and  most  profitable  reflection.  Later  he  delighted 
in  social  statics  and  intellectual  development,  De 
Tocqueville,  John  Stuart  Mill,  Buckle,  and  Herbert 
Spencer  being  among  his  favorite  authors.  For  light 
reading  he  enjoyed  the  English  essayists  and  novel 
ists.  For  the  dead  languages,  or  for  any  other  dead 
thing,  he  entertained  not  the  same  consideration  as 
for  the  living.  Patristic  formulas  and  meaningless 
mythologies  commanded  his  respect  no  more  than 
the  dry  technical  rules  of  grammar,  or  any  species  of 
hollow  conventionalities.  But  for  real  knowledge  his 
thirst  was  unbounded.  In  the  physical  sciences  and 
in  mathematics  his  interest  never  wearied ;  but  soon 
there  appeared  in  the  ever-strengthening  development 
of  his  mind  keen  analytical  powers,  the  deduction  of 
principles  from  facts,  the  sifting  of  evidence,  the 


LELAND  STANFORD.  87 

weighing  of  possibilities,  the  derivation  of  the  laws 
of  probabilities,  and  the  working  out  of  sound  gen 
eral  conclusions.  Moral  philosophy,  and  questions 
bearing  on  that  subject,  were  always  a  pleasure  to 
him. 

Thus,  though  well  taught  at  the  schools,  and  sur 
rounded  by  all  the  best  influences  that  environed  the 
growing  minds  of  that  period,  it  was  when  he  ceased 
rote-study  that  his  education  really  began.  And  as 
in  every  instance  of  the  kind,  whatever  of  greatness 
he  developed  was  after  and  in  spite  of  traditional 
and  conventional  teachings.  In  a  word,  his  mind 
was  fortunately  not  buried  in  youth  beneath  a  mass 
of  worthless  lore.  Yet  his  capabilities  presented  a 
vast  surface,  no  less  polished  than  profound.  Even 
at  this  early  period  he  was  equally,  though  somewhat 
unconsciously,  at  home  in  science  or  art,  in  ethics 
or  esthetics,  but  always  viewing  things  from  a  prac 
tical  standpoint.  He  possessed  the  artlessness  of 
sincerity,  which,  if  consciously  handled,  is  the  highest 
art.  Every  kind  of  knowledge  he  made  useful,  and  sub 
ordinated  to  his  purpose,  until  he  had  carried  to  per 
fection  the  art  of  adapting  means  to  ends. 

Following  the  universal  drift  of  material  and  intel 
lectual  progression,  Mr  Stanford  early  turned  his 
eyes  westward,  never  resting  wholly  content  until  the 
shore  of  the  Pacific  was  attained.  Before  news  of 
the  discovery  of  gold  had  reached  his  ear,  or  Califor 
nia  had  attracted  much  attention  at  the  east,  he  had 
determined  to  seek  a  desirable  location  for  the  prac 
tice  of  law  somewhere  in  the  vicinity  of  the  lakes,  in 
which  direction  the  tide  of  civilization  then  tended. 
After  visiting  several  places,  .he  finally  selected  Port 
Washington,  Wisconsin,  as  best  suited  to  his  purpose, 
and  there  established  himself  early  in  1848. 

The  steady  current  of  migration  and  the  growth 
of  the  lumber  industry  had  given  to  the  place  an  air 
of  prosperity,  and  Mr  Stanford  entered  at  once  upon 


88  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

what  was  then  considered  a  lucrative  practice,  his 
earnings  the  first  year  being  $1,260.  On  leaving 
home  his  father  had  presented  him  with  a  law  library, 
which  was  the  best  north  of  Milwaukee,  the  supreme 
judges  frequently  coming  to  Port  Washington  to 
have  access  to  it  while  writing  their  opinions. 

In  1850  he  visited  his  old  home,  and  while  there 
married  Jane  Lathrop,  a  most  estimable  young  lady, 
with  whom  he  had  been  for  three  years  acquainted, 
and  the  daughter  of  Dyer  Lathrop,  a  merchant  of 
Albany,  whose  family  were  among  the  earliest  and 
most  respected  settlers  of  that  city. 

Mr  Lathrop  was  born  in  Norwich,  Connecticut. 
When  about  seven  years  of  age  his  parents  went  to 
New  York  city,  near  which  they  engaged  in  farming, 
later  removing  to  Albany.  After  reaching  his  full 
growth  there  was  but  one  man  in  Albany  taller  than 
himself,  for  he  was  six  feet  three  inches  in  height, 
well  proportioned  and  with  a  commanding  figure.  He 
was  a  man  of  sentiment  and  of  a  religious  turn 
of  mind,  affiliating  with  the  baptists,  though  he  never 
joined  any  church.  He  was  very  sympathetic  and 
charitable  ;  any  one  could  draw  upon  his  feelings  or 
his  purse.  His  good  deeds  extended  in  every  direc 
tion,  and  he  was  greatly  beloved  by  all  who  knew 
him.  He  was  practically  the  founder  in  Albany  of 
the  orphan  asylum,  and  was  treasurer  of  that  institu 
tion  and  a  director  until  his  death. 

The  year  of  his  marriage  Mr  Lathrop  built  a  small 
house  in  Albany,  where  were  born  all  of  his  children, 
except  the  eldest.  These  were  Daniel  Shields,  Anna 
Maria,  Jane,  Ariel,  Henry  Clay,  and  Charles  Gard 
ner  Lathop.  In  this  same  little  house  father  and 
mother  passed  away,  and  the  property  has  ever  since 
been  retained  by  Mrs  Stanford. 

There  were  many  singular  and  exceedingly  interest 
ing  circumstances  connected  with  the  early  lives  and 
marriage  of  Leland  Stanford  and  Jane  Lathrop. 
Their  families  were  among  the  very  best  of  the 


LELAND  STANFORD.  89 

Albany  and  Schenectady  society  of  the  olden  time. 
The  father  of  Mrs  Stanford's  mother  was  by  birth  a 
Finn,  and  by  profession  an  episcopal  minister,  who 
preached  in  Kent  for  thirty -five  years.  Her  grand 
mother  on  the  maternal  side  came  to  this  country 
when  she  was  twelve  years  of  age,  the  family  leaving 
their  native  land  on  account  of  liberal  religious  views. 
Grandfather  Lathrop  was  in  the  revolutionary  war, 
and  when  Lafayette  visited  this  country  they 
exchanged  canes.  Six  or  seven  generations  back  the 
Lathrops  were  all  ministers. 

Some  facts  that  were  not  known  until  twelve  or 
fourteen  years  ago  are  these  :  Mrs  Lathrop,  Mrs 
Stanford's  mother,  and  Leland  Stanford  were  born 
in  the  same  house  ;  and  Jane  Lathrop  and  Leland 
Stanford's  mother's  mother  were  born  in  the  same 
house.  It  came  about  in  this  way  :  The  grandfather 
of  Mrs  Stanford's  mother  bought  the  place  of  Mrs 
Stanford's  grandfather ;  it  was  afterwards  sold,  Mr 
Stanford's  father  being  the  purchaser.  For  a  time 
the  family  lived  on  it,  and  it  so  happened  that  Jane 
was  born  there.  All  this  came  out  during  a  visit  of 
Mrs  Stanford  to  the  wife  of  her  husband's  brother, 
who  took  her  guest  to  call  on  a  neighbor  in  whose 
yard  were  some  gravestones.  "  Is  this  a  burial- 
place  ?"  asked  Mrs  Stanford.  "  Some  persons  belong 
ing  to  the  place  have  been  buried  here,"  was  the 
reply,  "and  on  one  of  the  stones  is  your  family 
name."  Mrs  Stanford  looked  and  found  as  has  been 
said,  the  name  of  Mary  Shields. 

Returning  to  Port  Washington  with  his  young 
wife — throughout  all  the  long  years  that  followed, 
his  most  loving  and  devoted  consort — Mr  Stanford 
remained  until  the  beginning  of  1852,  when  there 
befell  him  one  of  those  providential  blessings  which 
sometimes  come  to  us  in  the  guise  of  calamities. 
This  was  the  total  destruction  by  fire  of  his  office, 
with  all  its  valuable  contents,  including,  of  course, 
his  law  library. 


DO  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

I  say  providential,  meaning  that  so  far  as  human 
eyes  can  see  or  human  judgment  determine,  the 
career  of  Leland  Stanford  would  have  been  very 
different  but  for  this  visitation.  To  those  whose  eyes 
fail  to  penetrate  beneath  the  surface  of  human  events, 
the  circumstances  which  throw  men  out  of  the  ordi 
nary  routine  into  a  field  of  opportunity  seem  the 
results  of  chance,  or,  as  some  would  say,  providence, 
while  to  others  they  appear  to  have  been  brought 
about  by  everyday  material  phenomena. 

The  work  which  this  man  has  done  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  on  the  continent,  the  influence  which  he 
has  exercised,  the  benefactions  to  the  race  of  which 
he  has  laid  the  foundations — where  would  have  been 
all  these  but  for  this  disaster,  and  how  and  by  whom, 
if  at  all,  would  his  work  here  have  been  accomplished  ? 
In  one  sense  such  questions  are  idle,  none  but  omni 
science  being  able  to  answer  them  ;  in  another  they 
are  pregnant  with  weighty  significance. 

Meanwhile  had  come  tidings  of  the  discoveries  of 
vast  mineral  wealth  in  our  lately  acquired  possessions 
on  the  Pacific  seaboard,  and  a  wild  excitement  had 
overspread  the  entire  eastern  world.  Five  of  the 
seven  brothers  had  gone  to  California,  and  there 
Leland  had  often  thought  of  following  them,  before 
the  destruction  of  his  office  at  Port  Washington. 
Now  the  way  seemed  clear  to  him.  Immigration  to 
the  lake  region  had  ceased,  the  timber  land  having 
all  been  taken  up,  and  the  law  business  declining 
accordingly.  Mrs  Stanford,  likewise,  who  had  hith 
erto  opposed  the  project  of  removing  to  California, 
now  expressed  her  willingness  for  the  change,  and  it 
was  accordingly  so  determined.  It  was  fortunate  for 
the  world,  as  subsequent  events  have  proved,  that  the 
change  should  occur  at  this  time.  The  profession  of 
the  law,  marred  by  unmanly  subterfuges,  and  ham 
pered  by  a  mediaeval  clockwork  from  which  not  all 
the  arts  of  man  have  been  able  to  set  it  free,  was  not 
one  that  conmienxled  itself  as  the  most  elevating  and 


LELAND  STANFORD.  91 

ennobling  to  a  practical,  common-sense  nature  like 
Stanford's. 

Had  he  remained  in  this  profession,  however,  he 
would  assuredly  have  risen  to  eminence ;  he  had 
already  shown  marked  abilit}'  in  the  examination  of 
witnesses,  his  keen  knowledge  of  human  nature  here 
standing  him  in  good  stead.  But  he  considered  it 
worthier  to  employ  his  faculties  in  a  wider  and  more 
useful  sphere  than  in  embarrassing  the  clients  of  pro 
fessional  opponents  in  courts  of  justice.  Mr  Stan 
ford's  legal  tact  and  acumen,  his  perseverance  and 
breadth  of  intellect  might  have  given  eventually  a 
chief  justice  to  the  country,  but  even  that  high  office 
pales  in  comparison  with  the  nobler  and  more  impor 
tant  position  that  is  his  to-day. 

Says  an  intimate  friend:  "  If  placed  in  a  city  like 
New  York  or  Chicago,  he  would  have  been  at  the 
head  of  the  bar;  he  would  have  stood  side  by  side 
with  such  men  as  Charles  O'Connor.  He  would  ngt 
perhaps  have  been  a  brilliant  man  like  Conkling;  but 
his  judgment  on  a  given  question,  rendered  at  the  spur 
of  the  moment,  would  have  been  worth  more  than 
Conkling's  after  a  year's  patient  study  and  research. 
Though  he  has  been  of  much  greater  service  to  the 
country  as  a  railroad  builder,  the  bar  lost  one  of  its 
ablest  men  when  he  left  the  profession.  The  power 
he  has  shown  of  reaching  correct  conclusions,  his  cool 

o  ' 

unbiased  judgment,  and  his  capacity  for  work  would 
have  made  him  one  of  the  foremost  jurists  in  the 
land." 

It  was  truly  a  fortunate  time,  not  only  for  Cali 
fornia,  but  for  the  world,  when  Mr  Stanford  turned 
his  back  on  Wisconsin  and  law,  and  set  forth  for  Cali 
fornia. 

He  had  never  indeed  cared  for  the  Wisconsin 
country,  with  its  harsh  winters  and  its  population 
composed  mostly  of  Germans.  At  the  same  time, 
California,  although  possessed  of  a  beautiful  climate, 
was  a  long  way  off,  and  Mr  Stanford  was  still  doing 


92  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

well  in  his  profession.  Nevertheless,  when  he  came 
home  after  the  fire  and  said  to  his  wife:  "Well,  now 
that  everything  is  lost,  what  shall  we  do?"  "Go  to 
California,"  she  replied.  And  so  it  was  settled.  The 
remnant  of  their  property,  including  household  effects, 
was  sold  at  auction,  and  in  less  than  a  week  after  the 
fire  they  were  on  their  way  to  Albany. 

Meanwhile  Mrs  Stanford  had  written  to  her  father, 
fearing  that  he  would  oppose  her  removal  to  Califor 
nia.  It  was  as  she  had  thought,  for  on  entering  her 
former  home  he  said,  "No,  I  cannot  let  you  go." 
This,  however,  had  little  weight  with  one  whom  love 
and  duty  both  called  in  the  same  direction.  A  few 
days  after  they  went  to  Mr  Stanford's  home,  and  his 
parents  made  the  same  objection;  he  might  go,  but 
alone,  to  tliis  far-off,  new^uul  untried  country.  Still 
the  got .d  wife-  never  tliought  of  thus  parting  front  her 
husband.  Thus  he  continued  his  preparations  for  the 
voyage,  until  finally  the  parting  hour  arrived,  when 
Mr  Lathrop  positively  refused  to  let  her  go.  Both 
felt  keenly  the  disappointment,  but  they  saw  it  would 
make  him  so  perfectly  wretched  that  Mr  Stanford 
finally  said:  "  Well,  stay;  indeed  I  think  it  will  be 
better  so,  until  I  can  make  a  suitable  home  for  you." 

So  bidding  them  good-bye  he  took  an  early  morn 
ing  train  for  New  York,  leaving  his  wife  well-nigh 
heartbroken,  and  feeling  that  she  had  been  very 
unjustly  treated.  Indeed,  so  utter  was  her  dejection 
that,  on  returning  home  that  night,  her  father  promised 
she  should  see  her  husband  again,  telling  her  mother 
to  accompany  her  to  New  York  before  the  vessel 
sailed. 

It  was  all  unexpected  to  Mr  Stanford,  the  appear 
ance  of  his  wife  and  Mrs  Lathrop  in  New  York; 
though  his  joy  at  the  meeting  was  perhaps  tinged 
with  regret,  in  view  of  a  second  parting,  while  Mr 
Stanford's  father,  who  was  present,  feared  lest  the 
previous  good  counsels  should  be  overruled.  Early 
in  the  morning  they  all  went  down  to  the  steamer  to 


LELAND  STANFORD.  93 

inspect  his  quarters,  and  see  to  his  comfort.  Finally 
Mrs  Stanford  became  reconciled  to  their  separation, 
feeling  with  the  others  that  it  was  for  the  best. 

This  was  in  June  1852.  And  not  many  weeks 
elapsed  before  Mrs  Stanford  felt  assured  that  her  steps 
had  been  directed  by  an  all-wise  providence.  Her 
father  was  taken  ill  with  what  proved  to  be  his  last 
sickness,  and  throughout  the  greater  part  of  that 
summer  was  confined  to  the  house  with  a  severe  cold, 
accompanied  with  hemorrhages  and  violent  fits  of 
coughing.  For  nearly  three  years  she  attended  per 
sonally  to  all  his  wants,  seldom  leaving  his  side,  and 
tending  him  with  all  the  devotion  of  a  kind  and  sym 
pathetic  daughter  to  the  time  of  his  passing  away, 
which  was  in  April  1855. 

Information  of  this  event  reached  Mr  Stanford  in 
May,  and  in  June  he  hastened  to  join  his  wife.  He 
found  her  greatly  reduced  in  health,  owing  partly  to 
the  strain  on  her  system,  together  with  the  care  and 
anxiety  incidental  to  the  protracted  illness  of  a  beloved 
parent. 

Educated  at  the  Albany  female  academy,  Mrs 
Stanford  until  she  was  married  had  never  been  away 
from  home,  and  her  home  life  had  always  been 
earnest  and  sedate.  She  was  deeply  attached  to  her 
parents,  and  thoroughly  devoted  to  her  husband, 
and  all  worthy  relatives  and  friends.  All  the  events 
of  the  last  long  sickness  of  her  father  were  fresh  in 
her  memory,  and  undoubtedly  her  character  in  its 
formation  was  largely  influenced  by  that  experience. 
Being  with  him  so  much  of  the  time,  attending  him 
by  day  and  sitting  by  his  side  at  night,  she  listened 
while  he  talked  to  her,  telling  how  she  should  live, 
the  example  she  should  set,  and  that  she  must  be 
what  she  would  have  those  around  her  be,  to  that  end 
living  a  useful  and  Christian  life.  All  this,  and  Mr 
Stanford's  absence,  gave  a  serious  turn  to  her 

'        O 

thoughts,  and  she  felt  it  a  great  burden  thus  to  be 
left  alone.  Nevertheless,  she  bore  it  patiently,  until 


94  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA, 

her  father  was  laid  at  rest  in  the  Albany  cemetery, 
where  were  already  grand-father  and  grand-mother, 
and  where  the  mother  was  in  due  time  to  be  placed. 

On  the  death  of  her  mother,  who  had  been  for  some 
years  a  resident  of  California,  the  property  was  to  be 
divided  among  the  children;  but  Mrs  Stanford  and 
her  brother  assigned  their  portions,  including  their 
share  in  the  old  homestead  to  a  sister,  who,  except 
during  their  mother's  illness,  had  lived  with  them 
since  1860.  Later  this  family  residence  was  trans 
ferred  to  Mrs  Stanford,  who  caused  it  to  be  torn 
down,  and  built  in  its  place  a  home  for  orphan  chil 
dren  under  seven  years  of  age.  It  was  called  the 
Lathrop  Memorial  and  Helping  Hand,  and  provided 
by  its  founder  with  an  endowment  of  $5,000  a  year 
until  a  settlement  of  at  least  $100,000  should  secure 
a  permanent  income  of  that  amount.  At  first  intended 
only  for  the  children  of  mothers  going  out  to  work, 
and  in  need  of  a  place  where  to  leave  their  little  ones, 
it  was  afterward  combined  with  an  orphan  asylum, 
open  to  the  children  of  the  poor,  without  regard  to 
sect  or  creed.  Thus  hundreds  of  helpless  infants  have 
already  been  cared  for  during  the  most  critical  period 
in  their  lives,  many  of  them  being  afterward  adopted 
by  families  living  in  the  neighborhood. 

It  was  more  of  a  trial  than  we  can  now  realize,  this 
long  separation  of  Mrs  Stanford  from  her  husband, 
and  it  exercized  a  marked  influence  upon  her  health, 
second  only  to  that  arising  from  the  care  of  her  father. 
She  was  so  young ;  yet  she  was  brave,  and  would 
endure  anything  in  the  line  of  her  duty.  But  it  was 
hard  ;  the  people  of  Albany  had  peculiar  notions 
in  those  days;  the  fact  that  her  husband  had  gone 
to  California  and  left  her  at  home  of  itself  gave  rise 
to  suspicion.  It  did  not  matter  to  them  the  break 
ing  of  her  heart,  the  sacrifice  she  was  called  upon 
to  undergo,  the  duty  to  a  dying  parent,  or  that  the 
parents  of  both  Mr  and  Mrs  Stanford  equally 
regarded  it  as  best  for  her  to  remain.  The  conven- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  95 

tionalisms  of  society  are  more  cruel  than  steel,  more 
inexorable  than  fate. 

California  was  regarded  with  distrust  in  those  days, 
commercially  and  socially,  and  the  good  people  of 
Albany  would  pity  Mrs  Stanford  in  her  immediate 
presence.  That  they,  in  their  stolid  ignorance,  knew 
not  what  they  were  saying,  made  little  difference ; 
Mrs  Stanford  was  very  sensitive,  and  was  much  hurt 
by  their  ill-advised  sympathy.  It  caused  her  to  isolate 
herself  more  and  more,  which  added  to  her  ill -health, 
thus  increasing  the  great  burden  she  bore  for  three 
years  ;  and  if  Mr  Stanford  had  not  returned  when 
he  did  his  devoted  wife  could  not  have  lived  to 
endure  it  much  longer.  When  he  reached  home  he 
was  shocked  at  her  appearance.  He  had  expected  to 
find  her  in  delicate  health,  but  no  one  had  told  him 
how  ill  she  was. 

An  earnest  Christian,  kind  of  heart  and  of  contem 
plative  mind,  life  has  always  presented  itself  to  Mrs 
Stanford  in  its  more  serious  aspect.  She  was  the 
close  companion  and  partner  of  her  husband  on  all 
occasions.  In  all  his  undertakings  he  consulted  her, 
and  she  in  turn  laid  all  before  her  heavenly  friend 
and  Savior.  In  the  early  days  of  the  railroad,  when 
he  would  say  I  am  going  to  do  so  and  so — something 
which  she  kew  was  causing  him  deep  anxiety — she 
would  go  to  her  room  and  shut  the  door  and  say, 
"  Now,  dear  Jesus,  I  have  come  to  tell  it  all  to  thee." 
For  so  her  father  had  taught  her,  saying  that  religion, 
if  real,  is  practical,  and  that  the  wife,  consciously  or 
unconsciously,  moulds  the  husband  for  good  or  ill,  and 
is  moulded  by  him,  the  two  natures  thus  ever  becom 
ing  more  and  more  alike ;  so  that  it  behooved  her  to^ 
see  that  the  good  should  prevail  in  both. 

Let  us  now  follow  Mr  Stanford  during  his  first 
three  years'  sojourn  in  California.  After  due  prepara 
tion  and  the  closing  of  his  affairs  at  Port  Wash  ing  ton, 
he  set  forth,  as  we  have  seen,  for  California  in  1852, 


96  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

leaving  Mrs  Stanford  at  her  old  home  in  Albany. 
The  journey  was  made  by  way  of  Nicaragua,  twelve 
days  being  occupied  in  crossing  the  Isthmus,  and 
thirty-eight  days  in  the  entire  trip  from  New  York 
to  San  Francisco,  where  he  landed  on  the  12th  of  July. 

Proceeding  to  Sacramento,  where  his  brothers  w^ere 
engaged  in  a  general  merchandise  business,  he  spent 
a  month  in  visiting  them  and  viewing  the  situation. 
It  struck  him  from  the  first  that  settlement  here 
would  be  permanent,  that  this  section  of  the  world 
had  a  future,  and  that  many  would  remain,  whether 
they  had  originally  so  intended  or  not.  His  first 
idea  was  to  secure  some  land,  which  would  give  him 
a  footing  in  the  new  community ;  so  he  attended  an 
auction  sale  at  which  his  bid  was  accepted  for  a  cer 
tain  lot,  but  the  title  proving  defective  he  did  not 
purchase  the  property.  Then  he  went  to  Cold  Springs, 
in  Eldorado  county,  and  though  wholly  inexperienced 
in  merchandising,  he  opened  an  establishment  there, 
and  entered  on  his  mercantile  career.  The  following 
spring  he  started  a  store  at  Michigan  Bluffs,  then  the 
central  business  point  of  the  Placer  county  mining 
district,  and  carried  on  a  considerable  trade,  prosper 
ing  in  all  he  undertook. 

In  mining  he  was  specially  fortunate,  securing  pos 
session  of  one  of  the  richest  gravel-banks  then  known. 
One  day  he  went  down  to  this  mine,  where  the  men 
were  washing  out  dirt  in  two  long  sluice-boxes,  and 
one  could  see  the  gold  on  the  bottom.  They  took 
out  about  a  hundred  ounces  of  gold  a  day,  bringing 
the  dirt  out  from  the  tunnel  in  a  car.  The  tunnel 
had  penetrated  six  hundred  feet  through  the  rock 
before  striking  gravel.  Said  Mr  Stanford  to  the 
foreman :  "  I  wonder  if  we  cannot  find  some  rich  dirt." 
"  I  reckon  so,"  the  man  replied.  Taking  a  pan  and 
pick  they  entered  the  tunnel,  and  passing  on  some 
distance,  the  foreman  finally  stopped.  "  I  think  this 
is  quite  rich,"  he  said.  So  they  dug  into  the  edge  of 
the  tunnel,  and  shoveling  the  dirt  into  the  pan,  took 


LELAND  STANFORD.  97 

it  out  and  washed  it.  There  were  seventy-six  ounces 
of  gold  in  that  one  pan  of  dirt.  They  had  previ 
ously  entertained  no  idea  of  the  richness  of  the  deposit, 
from  which  $50,000  was  afterward  taken  out  within 
a  space  not  exceeding  twelve  feet  square. 

In  drifting  in  gravel  mines  it  was  then  the  custom 
to  pass  on  through  to  the  rear  of  the  claim  without 
stopping  to  work  out  the  sides;  hence  in  this  case, 
while  the  foreman  knew  that  certain  spots  were  rich, 
he  had  not  disturbed  then  while  drifting. 

Then  there  was  a  quartz  mine,  which  returned  $100 
to  $104  a  ton,  the  ore  costing  only  about  $4.00  a  ton 
to  hoist  and  crush  it,  leaving  an  enormous  profit. 

Thus  in  his  mercantile  ventures,  but  more  by  min- 
incr,  he  had  already  accumulated  what  was  then  a 
considerable  fortune.  As  courts  had  not  yet  been 
established,  justice  being  summarily  administered,  he 
did  not  follow  his  profession;  but  in  his  mountain 
home  he  lived  a  more  useful  and  congenial  life. 

Here  was  a  new  and  stupendous  school  of  human 
nature  for  him  who  could  profit  by  it  I  A  young 
man  still  less  than  thirty  years  of  age,  intelligent, 
cultured,  with  the  fullest  development  of  all  his  facul 
ties,  physical,  mental,  and  moral,  cast  aloof  from  all 
former  restraints  in  this  maelstrom  of  the  nations — 
how  would  he  stand  this  test  of  character?  what 
quality  of  distillation  would  issue  forth  from  this 
fearful  alembic  ?  Thousands  had  hitherto  fallen ; 
tens  of  thousands  were  yet  to  fall — young  men  of 
strength  and  stability  they  supposed  themselves,  yet 
yielding  to  the  treacherous  and  enticing  snares  of 
Satan,  turned  into  veritable  swine  by  the  Circe  of  the 
foothills.  But  for  him  who  was  proof  against  such 
temptations,  there  was  no  spot  on  earth,  at  that  time, 
where  one  could  learn  more  of  himself  and  of  his 
neighbor,  of  his  own  nature  and  the  nature  of  others, 
than  in  these  gold-fields  along  the  base  of  the  Sierra. 

And  Leland  Stanford  found  himself  possessed  of 
sufficient  strength   thus  to   stand.     His   birth   and 

C.  B.— II.    7 


98  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

training  had  been  such  that,  amid  the  trials  and 
temptations  of  life,  he  found  himself  always  in  com 
plete  possession  of  himself,  and  not  the  prey  of  any 
demon  or  destroyer.  Quickly  familiarizing  himself 
with  the  details  of  his  business,  he  next  made  a  study 
of  the  men  around  him,  soon  causing  them  feel  that 
he  was  interested  in  and  capable  of  uncTerstanding 
them.  Moreover,  being  affable  in  his  manners,  upright 
in  all  his  dealings,  moral  and  temperate  without 
asceticism,  a  keen  judge  of  human  nature,  with  good 
conversational  powers,  and  none  but  good  acts  and 
intentions  in  any  quarter,  it  was  not  possible  that  he 
should  live  long  in  that  rough,  though  warm-hearted 
community,  without  drawing  to  himself  a  host  of 
friends.  Thus  from  the  first  he  so  grounded  himself 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people  that  when,  in  1855,  he 
took  his  departure  from  the  gold-fields  to  engage  in 
broader  enterprises,  there  was  little  within  the  com 
pass  of  their  hands  they  would  not  have  done  for 
him.  Here,  indeed,  began  that  popularity  and  power 
in  California  which  to  this  day  has  gone  on  increasing 
in  such  marvellous  degree. 

By  this  time  Mr  Stanford  had  become  fully  weaned 
from  legal  pursuits,  and  having  acquired  considerable 
pecuniary  interests  in  this  country,  concluded  to 
make  California  his  home.  No  sooner  was  this  deter 
mined  than  he  at  once  proceeded  east,  and  bringing 
back  with  him  Mrs  Stanford,  settled  in  Sacramento. 
This  was  in  1855,  in  which  year  he  purchased  the 
bus/ness  ot  his  brothers,  who  removed  to  San  Fran 
cisco  and  engaged  in  the  oil  trade. 

The  house  in  Sacramento  soon  ranked  among  the 
most  prominent  in  California,  and  here  was  developed 
the  capacity  for  dealing  with  large  affairs  which  aided 
so  largely  in  his  subsequent  career.  A  purely  pro 
fessional  training  leaves  one  at  a  great  disadvantage 
when  called  upon  to  act  outside  of  his  beaten  path. 
It  is  difficult  for  a  person  accustomed  to  think  and 
act  wholly  within  himself,  within  the  limits  laid  down 


LELAND  STANFORD.  99 

by  the  special  experience  he  has  been  compelled  to 
undergo,  to  break  loose  from  such  pursuits  and  enter 
upon  others  without  committing  serious  blunders. 
One  of  the  first  things  a  mercantile  man  is  forced  to 
learn  is  to  utilize  the  labor  of  others.  He  cannot 
accomplish  great  purposes  who  employs  only  his  own 
head  and  hands.  And  though  it  is  more  difficult,  as 
a  rule,  to  obtain  the  desired  results  through  another's 
labor  than  through  our  own,  it  must  be  done.  Dur 
ing  his  mercantile  career  Mr  Stanford  learned  many 
lessons  in  this  direction,  which  were  of  the  greatest 
benefit  to  him,  both  at  the  time  and  subsequently. 
By  them  he  was  not  only  enabled  greatly  to  enlarge 
his  business,  engage  in  extensive  commercial  trans 
actions  as  importer  and  merchant,  but  there  was  here 
developed  that  executive  ability,  growing  out  of 
increased  powers  of  generalization,  for  which  he  was 
ever  afterward  distinguished. 

Notwithstanding  the  multiplicity  of  cares  and  the 
ever-increasing  requirements  of  business,  it  was 
impossible  for  a  mind  like  Mr  Stanford's  not  to  per 
ceive  the  threatening  approach  of  a  great  national 
crisis.  Partisan  politicians  of  the  north  and  the 
south,  patriots,  statesmen,  and  demagogues  of  every 
quality  and  hue,  had  long  been  hurling  maledictions 
one  at  another  until  the  noise  of  the  universal  clamor 
had  become  somewhat  deafening,  even  in  California. 
The  great  questions  of  the  day  were  regarding  state 
rights  and  African  slavery. 

The  Sacramento  merchant  was  not  only  a  true 
patriot,  with  the  inherent  qualities  of  a  statesman, 
but  he  was  a  philosophic  thinker,  at  once  humane 
and  profound.  Amid  the  fermentations  of  popular 
prejudices  and  time-worn  traditions,  it  was  no  diffi 
cult  matter  for  him  to  discern  in  the  questions  of 
the  day  what  were  the  true  rights  of  man — and  the 
first  among  those  rights  was  personal  liberty.  Human 
slavery  was  a  relic  of  savagism,  long  since  discarded 


100  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

by  the  foremost  nations.  If  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  protected  certain  of  its  people  in 
wrong-doing,  then  the  constitution  should  be  altered 
or  discarded.  Human  wrongs  cannot  be  made  right 
by  laws  or  governments.  These  were  for  that  day 
advanced  ideas,  though  ratified  by  public  opinion 
during  the  civil  war  which  followed. 

At  this  time  Mr  Stanford  was  not  wholly  prepared 
to  repudiate  the  claims  of  the  south  to  their  right  to 
hold  slaves  under  the  constitution.  The  republican 
idea,  before  the  war,  while  opposed  to  slavery  in  the 
abstract,  was  in  the  main  that  the  people  of  the  south 
should  in  some  way  be  protected  in  their  alleged 
rights  in  slave  property.  And  even  now  it  can  with 
some  show  of  reason  be  maintained  that  the  citizens 
of  a  government  acquiring  property  under  the  laws 
of  that  government  should  be  protected  therein  by 
the  government ;  if  the  government  has  committed 
an  error,  or  indulged  too  long  in  a  barbarism,  let  it 
amend  its  ways,  but  at  the  expense  of  all  and  not  to 
the  injury  of  a  part.  Thus  every  shade  of  doctrine 
was  shadowed  forth,  and  bitter  invectives  hurled 
from  one  end  of  the  republic  to  the  other. 

The  true  theory  of  our  government  was  by  many 
misunderstood,  just  as  to-day  people  are  pouring  in 
from  Europe  and  attempting  to  rule  or  ruin  us,  who 
have  but  a  faint  conception  of  what  success  would 
signify.  Accustomed  to  coercion  at  home,  they  cross 
the  ocean  to  attempt  the  coercion  of  a  free  people 
here ;  just  as  our  fanatical  forefathers  who  came 
hither  to  escape  persecution  could  not  resist  the^ 
temptation  to  persecute  here^ven  to  the  burning  of 
women  for  witchcraft,  and  like  abominations. 

During  his  early  manhood  Mr  Stanford  had  been 
by  education  and  association  a  whig.  He  was  an 
earnest  supporter  of  the  great  free-soil  movement,  as 
it  arose  and  gathered  strength  throughout  the  land. 
Though  not  an  ultra-abolitionist,  he  could  truly  say 
that  he  had  never  held  the  black  man  in  contempt ; 


LELAND  STANFORD.  101 

nor  did  he  ever  despise  a  man  because  he  was  igno 
rant  and  poor,  no  matter  how  such  a  class  might 
come  in  from  Europe  and  talk  of  communism  and  the 
tyranny  of  capital. 

It  was  during  such  times  as  these  that  the  repub 
lican  party  came  into  existence,  and  it  may  be  said 
that  Leland  Stanford  was  one  of  the  founders  of  that 
party  in  California.  Its  organization  here  occurred 
in  1856.  Mr.  Stanford's  active  participation  in  state 
politics  did  not  begin  until  the  formation  of  the 
republican  party;  yet  prior  to  that  event,  though 
greatly  absorbed  in  business,  he  found  time  to  con 
sider  such  public  affairs  as  he  deemed  of  importance, 
attending  conventions  occasionally  and  interesting 
himself  in  seeing  that  proper  men  were  selected  to 
represent  the  state  in  congress.  It  was  now  that  his 
real  life  began.  What  had  gone  before  was  simply 
preparation.  It  was  now  that  he  was  to  step  forth 
as  the  exponent  of  a  great  party,  and  the  disseminator 
of  those  principles  which  from  the  first  he  foresaw 
would  in  due  time  rise  superior  to  all  others.  No 
personal  political  aspiration  lay  at  the  bottom  of  it ; 
being  by  nature  and  education  a  lover  of  country,  a 
lover  of  the  right,  a  lover  of  progress  and  morality, 

he  could  not  resist  throwing   his  influence  in  these 

• 
directions. 

At  the  same  time,  standing  at  the  front  of  a  young 
party  whose  prosperity  he  had  greatly  at  heart,  he 
could  not  shrink  from  responsibility,  even  to  the  lead 
ing  of  a  forlorn  hope.  Such  was  the  situation  when 
at  the  next  state  election  after  the  birth  of  the  repub 
lican  party  he  accepted  the  nomination  for  state 
treasurer. 

His  principles  cost  him  something.  His  at  first 
was  not  the  popular  side.  The  population  of  Cali 
fornia  was  then  largely  composed  of  men  from  the 
southern  states,  men  despising  all  those  who  enter 
tained  any  sympathy  for  the  slave,  men  holding 
themselves  to  be  the  proper  rulers  of  the  people  as 


102  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

by  divine  right.  In  politics  and  society  an  anti- 
slavery  man  in  California,  before  the  war,  was  in  a 
measure  ostracized;  the  northern  men,  who  were 
holding  themselves  somewhat  aloof  from  public 
affairs,  devoting  themselves  almost  entirely  to  their 
money-making,  intending  presently  to  leave  California 
forever  and  return  to  their  homes  in  the  East.  The 
southerners,  on  the  other  hand,  came  to  California  to 
rule,  to  hold  office,  to  manipulate  elections  arid  sit  on 
the  judge's  bench.  These  were  many  of  them  broken 
dowrn  politicians  who,  having  outlived  their  useful 
ness  at  home,  had  come  to  the  Pacific  coast,  here  to 
remain  as  long  as  their  peculiar  talents  furnished 
them  a  livelihood.  They  despised  work,  or  any  pro 
fitable  or  useful  occupation  outside  of  governing  their 
fellows  and  sitting  in  judgment  upon  them.  They 
were  the  aristocracy  of  the  time  and  place,  frequent 
ers  of  gambling-saloons  and  election  conventions,  but 
seldom  were  they  seen  at  meetings  held  for  the 
improvement  of  the  race  or  the  development  of  the 
country. 

Henca  it  was  that  the  attitude  at  this  time  assumed 
by  Mr  Stanford  in  openly  avowing  his  principles,  and 
taking  a  firm  stand  for  the  right  regardless  of  conse 
quences,  was  not  altogether  an  enviable  one,  nor 
wholly  without  its  self-denials.  But  whether  pleas 
urable  or  painful  to  him  personally  was  not  the  ques 
tion.  It  was  reformation  that  was  needed,  the  same 
political  regeneration  throughout  the  country  that 
had  been  begun  by  the  great  popular  tribunal  of  1856 
in  the  city  of  San  Francisco.  And  no  true  reformer 
ever  paused  to  count  the  cost,  whether  in  money,  or 
pleasure,  or  prestige. 

In  1859  Mr  Stanford  was  nominated  for  governor. 
Many  thought  that  the  organizers  of  the  new  party 
should  unite  with  the  Douglas  wing  of  the  democracy, 
or  free-soilers,  as  they  were  called.  But  Mr  Stan 
ford  did  not  regard  this  plan  with  favor.  There  was 
nothing  national,  nothing  sufficiently  substantial  in 


LELAND  STANFORD.  103 

tliis  body  to  meet  the  portentous  emergencies  which 
the  sound  judgment  of  the  Sacramento  merchant 
foresaw.  He  would  form  a  party  which  would  stand 
the  test  of  time ;  and  being  based  upon  the  insur 
mountable  principles  of  human  freedom  and  human 
rights— the  broadest  liberty  consistent  with  good 
order  and  good  government — would  grow  fairer  and 
stronger  all  down  the  centuries. 

O 

"  Better  that  you  should  join  us,"  said  Stanford  to 
the  free-soilers,  "  and  so  assist  in  forming  a  great  and 
permanent  party,  for  as  you  are,  you  are  surely  des 
tined  to  play  but  a  very  insignificant  part  in  coming 
events. "  But  they  said  "  No,"  while  Broderick,  their 
chief,  went  forward  to  his  death,  slain  by  the  slave 
holders.  And  it  was  about  the  last  triumph  of  the 
ultra-southern  democrats,  this  slaughter  of  the  leader 
of  the  northern,  or  free-soil,  democrats.  For  in  the 
new  party  a  mighty  power  was  coming  to  the  front, 
destined  in  the  end  to  swallow  up  all  the  rest,  and  to 
revolutionize  and  purge  the  nation,  wiping  away  the 
stains  of  dishonor  with  the  best  blood  of  its  sons.  In 
thus  espousing  the  cause,  in  thus  organizing  the 
party,  in  thus  throwing  himself  into  the  contest,  body 
and  soul,  at  a  time  when  old  and  crafty  politicians 
held  back,  fearful  of  some  mistake,  the  Sacramento 
merchant  displayed  a  cool,  unflinching  courage,  which 
threw  into  the  shade  that  of  any  slave -holding  fire- 
eater,  and  gave  earnest  of  the  qualities  which  he 
afterward  displayed  as  a  statesman. 

Stanford  accepted  the  nomination  and  ran  for  gov 
ernor  for  the  purpose  of  coalescing  and  unifying  his 
party  preparatory  to  the  campaign  of  1860.  He 
estimated  that  he  would  have  10,000  votes ;  he 
received  11,000.  A  great  effort  was  made  to  have 
the  candidates  withdraw,  and  all  the  republican  mem 
bers  consented  to  do  so,  except  himself  and  one 
other. 

Had  he  been  at  this  moment  less  firm,  less  deter 
mined  to  plant  the  principles  of  freedom  ineradicably 


104  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

in  the  soil  of  California,  it  is  impossible  to  tell  what 
would  have  been  the  result.  Already  in  the  distance 
was  heard  the  low  ominous  rumble  of  coming  civil 
strife,  and  the  destiny  of  California  hung  upon  a 
thread.  Among  her  population  were  strong  sympa 
thizers  with  both  the  south  and  the  north,  and  upon 
which  side,  as  a  whole,  she  would  ultimately  be 
found  was  extremely  uncertain.  The  effect  of  her 
secession,  should  she  secede,  upon  the  nation  and 
upon  the  great  national  issues  of  slavery  and  the 
integrity  of  the  union,  could  not  be  estimated.  As 
she  went  the  other  Pacific  states  would  go.  These 
states,  bordering  on  the  great  ocean,  would  constitute 
either  a  bulwark  of  defense,  or  a  base  of  operations 
for  national  destruction. 

Again,  as  we  all  know,  money  is  the  sinews  of  war. 
It  would  make  a  vast  difference,  perhaps  a  vital  dif 
ference,  whether  the  two  or  five  millions  a  month 
of  precious  metals  from  California,  Nevada,  Ore 
gon,  and  the  rest  of  this  vast  metalliferous  region 
should  be  turned  into  the  coffers  of  the  north  or  of 
the  south.  As  it  was,  with  all  the  coin  this  great 
and  steady  influx  could  produce,  added  to  the  mate 
rial  wealth  of  the  north,  United  States  currency 
depreciated  two-thirds,  while  confederate  currency 
fell  to  nothing.  We  could  speculate  further,  until  in 
our  minds  speculation  crystallizes  into  fact — how, 
with  the  Pacific  seaboard  free  of  access,  and  the  coin- 
creating  wealth  of  the  mining  states  at  their  com 
mand,  the  great  powers  of  Europe,  jealous  of  our 
intellectual  progress  and  material  prosperity,  would 
have  gathered  around  us  like  birds  of -prey  ;  how  they 
would  have  delighted  in  and  aided  the  disintegration 
of  the  republic,  placing  an  iron  hand  on  each  dismem 
bered  portion,  balancing  one  against  another  to  suit 
their  ends,  and,  to  our  eternal  disgrace  and  ruin,  dom 
inating  in  America  as  they  dominate  in  Europe.  To 
see  how  easy  all  this  might  have  been  we  have  only 


LELAND  STANFORD.  105 

to  glance  at  the  significant  proceedings  of  France  in 
Mexico. 

It  is  overwhelming,  this  idea,  and  the  certainty  of  it, 
that  the  fate  of  California,  and  perhaps  that  of  the  whole 
nation,  should  be  determined  by  the  foresight,  discre 
tion  and  firmness  of  a  few  leading  men  who  were  then 
watching  the  progress  of  affairs  from  this  Pacific 
seaboard  with  absorbing  interest.  And  to  none  does 
this  state  and  nation  owe  more  in  this  hour  of  trial 
and  emergency  than  to  those  who  organized  and 
headed  this  league  of  protection  at  the  very  moment 
of  its  direst  necessity.  There  they  stand,  alone, 
unaided,  unsupported,  among  the  grandest  and  most 
conspicuous  figures  in  our  history,  with  noble  pur 
poses  and  divine  intuitions,  declining  the  invitation  of 
their  opponents  to  throw  up  their  party  and  princi 
ples  and  unite  with  them.  Had  this  been  done,  had 
Stanford  and  his  colleagues  joined  Broderick,  it  is  not 
possible  to  tell  the  results. 

Of  the  sentiments  of  the  people  throughout  the 
state  Mr  Stanford  made  a  careful  study.  He  went 
among  them,  into  their  stores  and  factories,  among 
their  workshops,  and  out  upon  their  farms,  arid  strove 
with  them  as  a  pastor  strives  with  his  flock.  Then 
he  would  ask  their  opinion  as  to  the  situation  ;  he 
would  speak  of  the  importance  of  his  party,  its  prin 
ciples  and  measures  in  view  of  the  present  embarrass 
ment  and  the  great  national  issues  soon  to  be  decided  ; 
and  what  he  saw  and  heard  he  treasured  up,  so  that 
he  could  make  intelligent  estimates  as  to  its  status 
and  prospects.  Taking  with  him  General  Tracy,  he 
canvassed  the  state,  and  during  this  canvass  he  saw 
more  to  give  him  confidence  in  the  future  of  the  repub 
lican  party  than  ever  before. 

During  this  canvass  an  incident  occurred  at  Dow- 
nieville  that  is  well  worth  relating  :  While  Stanford 
and  Tracy  were  at  dinner,  a  republican  addressed 
them,  urging  them  not  to  speak  there  that  night,  as 
was  their  intention,  for  he  deemed  it  dangerous. 


106  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

Republican  sentiments,  particularly  anti-slavery  sen 
timents,  were  not  popular  in  California  ;  the  times 
were  becoming  perilous ;  the  air  was  loaded  with 
treason  ;  revolution  was  threatened,  and  bloodshed  at 
any  moment  imminent.  "  There  are  only  two  repub 
licans  here  besides  myself,"  he  continued,  "  and  we 
hardly  dare  show  ourselves." 

After  dinner  they  set  forth  in  search  of  the  other  two 
republicans,  for  they  were  determined  to  hold  a  meet 
ing  at  once,  before  their  opponents  had  time  to  plan 
violent  measures.  They  found  them  ;  but  their  men 
tor  they  never  saw  again,  for  he  was  a  consistent  fel 
low,  who  followed  his  own  advice,  if  others  did  not. 

Meanwhile  certain  of  the  democrats,  in  the  spirit 
of  fun  and  fair-play,  assured  them  that  they  should 
not  be  molested,  and  one  of  them  even  offered  to  pre 
side  at  the  meeting  if  they  could  find  no  one  else  to 
do  so.  But  one  of  the  two  republicans  coining  to 
the  rescue,  they  were  saved  the  ignominy  of  a  demo 
cratic  president  at  a  republican  meeting. 

A  fair  assemblage  gathered.  Stanford  opened  the 
meeting,  introduced  Tracy,  who  was  an  eloquent 
speaker  and  was  not  afraid.  In  clear  and  forcible 
words  he  laid  the  situation  before  his  audience.  The 
north  and  the  south  were  divided  in  opinion,  in  senti 
ment,  in  religion,  in  mind  and  heart  and  soul  upon  a 
most  important  issue.  Should  the  cause  of  conten 
tion  be  removed,  or  should  the  north  and  south  sepa 
rate  and  go  each  its  own  way  ?  He  rang  in  their  ears 
the  curses,  the  abominations,  and  the  barbarisms  of 
slavery.  The  infamous  slave  trade  had  some  time 
since  been  abolished  by  the  common  consent  of 
respectable  nations,  and  civilization  should  no  longer 
tolerate  the  holding  of  human  beings  as  slaves.  If 
the  people  of  the  south  will  not  of  their  own  accord 
abolish  the  evil,  they  must  be  compelled  to  do  so.  No 
right-minded  man,  possessed  of  the  requisite  power, 
will  sit  calmly  by  and  see  a  gross  wrong  perpetrated 
upon  his  neighbor.  The  black  man  is  our  neighbor. 


LELAND  STANFORD.  107 

Liberty  is  God's  best  gift  to  man — liberty  of  thought, 
liberty  of  conscience,  liberty  of  body,  of  physical 
action.  It  is  a  sacred  trust,  for  the  maintenance  of 
which  men  fight  and  die,  and  for  our  use  or  abuse  of 
which  we  are  responsible  to  almighty  God. 

Thus  he  spoke,  holding  his  audience  spell-bound. 
Three  thousand  rough  and  hardy  men,  miners  and 
others,  had  by  this  time  gathered  on  the  ground,  and 
to  many  of  them  these  words  were  strange.  To 
many  the  idea  had  never  before  been  presented  that 
negro  slaves  were  men  of  like  feelings  with  them 
selves,  and  that  human  rights  and  human  wrongs 
were  just  the  same,  whether  incased  in  black  or  white. 
Some  of  them  were  from  Oregon,  where,  not  long 
since,  after  forbidding  slavery,  they  had  driven  away 
even  the  free  blacks.  In  social  or  political  circles 
the  color  was  unfashionable  and  the  odor  abominable. 

Stanford,  meanwhile,  was  watching  with  deep  inter 
est  the  sea  of  upturned  faces  before  him,  reading 
therein  the  responsive  sentiments  of  their  hearts. 
He  saw  that  the  spoken  truth  had  fallen  on  good 
ground  and  would  bring  forth  fruit.  It  was  a  noble 
work  and  nobly  performed,  thus  to  scatter  afresh  the 
seeds  of  liberty,  filling  with  the  fairest  flowers  of 
civilization  the  places  made  barren  in  a  liberty-lov 
ing  people  by  tyranny  and  savage  tradition.  All 
that  evening  he  pondered  on  these  things,  and 
visions  of  his  country's  fortune  were  bright  before 
him. 

"  Tracy,"  said  he,  as  next  morning  at  four  o'clock 
they  were  crossing  the  creek  by  the  path  which  led 
along  the  foothills,  "are  you  aware  that  this  very 
day  this  state  is  republican?" 

"I  should  say  not,"  Tracy  replied,  "I  am  sure  our 
experience  and  information  in  this  locality  would 
hardly  justify  such  a  conclusion." 

"  Nevertheless  it  is  true, "  Stanford  returned. 
"While  you  were' speaking  last  night  I  was  study 
ing  the  audience,  and  I  saw  that  the  truths  you 


108  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

presented  were  acceptable.  The  people  are  republi 
can,  though  they  do  not  all  of  them  know  it.  But 
they  will  find  it  out  before  many  days,  or  I  am  greatly 
mistaken." 

From  that  moment  he  never  doubted  what  the 
ultimate  result  would  be,  though  the  period  of  full 
fruition  was  not  yet. 

There  were  at  this  time  in  the  field  three  candi 
dates  for  governor,  Milton  S.  Latham,  the  regular 
democratic  nominee,  John  Curry,  Douglas  or  free-soil 
democrat,  and  Leland  Stanford,  republican.  Latham 
was  elected.  The  free-soilers  owed  their  defeat  to 
Stanford  ;  but  this  he  did  not  regret,  as  he  felt  they 
should  have  been  with  him.  A  lukewarm  policy, 
or  any  half-way  measures  at  this  juncture  were 
utterly  unworthy  of  men  pretending  to  have  in  any 
degree  their  country's  interests  at  heart.  Broderick 
devoted  his  best  energies  to  the  assistance  of  Curry, 
and  crowds  flocked  to  hear  him  speak.  But  Stanford 
said,  "  Do  not  deceive  yourself  with  the  thought  that 
all  who  attend  your  meetings  will  vote  your  way." 

This  was  in  1859.  During  the  following  winter 
the  republicans  met  and  appointed  delegates  to  the 
national  convention  at  Chicago.  There  were  eight 
delegates,  Stanford  being  delegate  at  large.  The 
convention  took  the  ground  that  they  could  not 
expect  to  have  much  influence  at  Washington,  for  the 
reason  that  they  could  not  cast  the  electoral  vote. 
Mr  Stanford  never  had  any  special  proclivity  for 
speech-making ;  but  he  felt  that  he  must  say  some 
thing:  on  this  occasion.  He  told  his  friends  that  he 

o 

could  not  concur  with  them  in  their  estimate  of  their 
position  and  power,  that  in  his  opinion  they  were 
going  to  cast  the  electoral  vote  at  Chicago,  and  that 
they  would  poll  40,000  votes  in  the  coming  election— 
the  democratic  party  would  be  divided  and  40,000 
votes  would  turn  the  election. 

Every  one  of  his  predictions  proved  true.  They 
were  no  mere  idle  surmises,  but  based  on  thoughtful 


LELAND  STANFORD.  109 

observation.  For  all  this  time  he  had,  as  we  have 
seen,  been  making  a  thorough  analysis  of  the  situa 
tion.  He  had  come  to  regard  the  affairs  of  his  party 
and  the  public  weal  as  he  regarded  his  business  affairs; 
if  worthy  of  his  attention  at  all,  they  were  worthy  of 
his  utmost  consideration,  of  his  best  powers  of  mind 
and  body.  Were  we  all  such  citizens,  legislative 
assemblies  would  be,  indeed,  congregations  of  the 
gods, 

After  the  Chicago  convention  he  met  Mr  Lincoln, 
his  acquaintance  ripening  into  a  friendship  warm  and 
unbroken  to  the  end.  Mr  Stanford  was  present  at 
the  inauguration,  and  remained  in  Washington  for 
several  weeks  thereafter,  at  the  special  request  of 
the  president,  whose  shrewd  judgment  of  men  con 
vinced  him  that  here  was  a  true  representative  of 
his  party,  and  the  advocate  and  exponent  of  the 
highest  and  purest  principles.  Nothing  could  illus 
trate  more  forcibly  the  estimation  in  which  Mr  Stan 
ford  was  held  by  the  foremost  men  of  the  nation, 
than,  at  this  perilous  crisis,  to  be  regarded  by  such 
men  as  Lincoln  and  Seward  as  a  most  capable  and 
conscientious  adviser,  and  a  most  able  and  reliable 
friend  of  the  government.  He  was  consulted  especi 
ally  as  to  the  surest  methods  for  the  preservation  of 
peace  and  loyalty  in  California,  and  as  to  the  federal 
appointments  which  would  best  carry  out  those 
measures. 

Here  again  we  find  him  at  his  post,  guarding  the 
interests  of  his  state  with  a  jealous  eye.  What  man 
could  do  he  did,  first  as  missionary  and  reformer 
in  the  field,  and  then  as  guardian  and  protector  at 
the  national  capital.  It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  say 
that  such  measures  as  were  adopted,  and  such  appoint 
ments  as  were  made  at  his  suggestion,  proved  in  the 
highest  degree  beneficial,  and  were  the  means,  to  a 
great  extent,  of  saving  California  to  the  union. 

The  republicans,  now  confident  of  their  strength, 
were  determined  that  the  canvass  of  1861  should  be 


110  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

a  vigorous  one.  While  in  Washington  Mr  Stanford 
wrote  to  his  brother  in  California  giving  his  views 
on  the  situation,  and  expressing  the  hope  that  the 
union  wing  of  the  democracy  would  unite  with  the 
union  party,  as  the  republicans  were  then  called,  and 
make  common  cause  against  the  disunionists.  Should 
his  advice  be  followed  he  would  not  expect  a  nomi 
nation,  as  he  had  been  very  active  in  forming  the 
republican  party,  and  would  scarcely  be  deemed 
available  as  a  fusion  candidate.  He  did  not,  how 
ever,  desire  office ;  he  sought  only  the  welfare  of  the 
state  and  of  the  nation. 

But  the  fusion  was  never  made,  and  the  three 
parties  took  the  field,  Stanford  as  republican  nomi 
nee  for  governor,  Conness  as  Douglas  democrat,  and 
McConnell  as  administration  democrat.  From  the 
time  of  his  nomination  Mr  Stanford  had  no  doubt  as 
to  his  election.  A  large  portion  of  the  Douglas 
democrats  were  loyal  and  would  sustain  the  republi 
can  party,  while  the  Broderick  branch  of  the  demo 
cratic  party  was  divided,  and  its  members  quarrelling 
among  themselves.  But  had  it  been  otherwise,  he 
would  nevertheless  have  deemed  it  his  duty  to  throw 
himself  into  the  contest  with  all  his  strength,  and 
win  proselytes  to  republican  principles  ;  merely  to 
hold  in  his  hands  for  a  brief  period  the  reins  of  office 
was  to  him  a  secondary  affair. 

Possessed  of  an  iron  constitution  and  perfect  health, 
he  could  travel  for  days  and  nights  with  little  rest  or 
sleep.  He  visited  all  the  more  important  places  in 
the  state,  and  was  everywhere  received  with  respect 
and  enthusiasm.  People  saw  in  him  a  man  possessed 
of  high  and  pure  principles,  a  man  of  superior  mind 
and  culture,  and  of  great  force  of  character.  Thou 
sands  were  brought  to  believe  in  him  and  in  his  cause. 
He  was  elected  by  a  vote  of  56,036,  McConnell 
receiving  32,750,  and  Conness  30,944.  It  was  at  once 
a  revolution  and  a  triumph. 


LELAND  STANFORD.  Ill 

It  was  a  critical  period  in  both  state  and  national 
affairs  when,  in  January  1862,  the  governor  was  inau 
gurated  at  Sacramento,  and  assumed  the  duties  of 
office.  Civil  war  with  all  its  horrors  was  fully  begun; 
when  and  how  it  would  end  no  one  could  predict.  The 
previous  election  in  California  had  been  watched  by 
both  the  contending  parties  with  peculiar  interest. 
The  men  of  the  south  had  been  sanguine  that  the 
democracy  could  not  be  driven  from  the  field  which 
they  had  occupied  so  long,  while  the  loyal  men  of 
the  north,  little  understanding  the  metal  of  which 
the  new  party  was  made,  held  their  breath  in  fearful 
expectation,  realizing  more  and  more  tha  dire  disas 
ters  which  would  attend  the  possession  of  California 
by  the  secessionists.  Every  day  appeared  more 
clearly  the  benefits  resulting  from  the  timely  organ 
ization  of  the  republican  party  in  California,  from  the 
conversion  of  the  state  to  anti-slavery  and  union  senti 
ments,  and  from  the  diplomacy  at  Washington  which 
kept  the  reins  of  government  and  military  leadership 
in  loyal  hands.  For  this,  to  Leland  Stanford  more 
than  to  any  other  man,  the  nation's  thanks  are  due. 

And  now,  to  supplement  his  good  work,  he  takes 
his  seat  as  chief  executive  of  the  state.  In  entering 
upon  his  important  duties  there  are  many  points  in 
his  favor.  First  of  all  he  has  the  entire  confidence 
of  the  administration  at  Washington.  Lincoln, 
Seward,  and  the  rest  who  there  amid  this  storm  con 
trolled  the  ship  of  state,  knew  him  as  a  true  man,  a 
loyal  citizen,  and  a  competent  ruler.  He  is  one  of 
them;  California  is  one  with  the  loyal  north.  Through 
the  confidential  relations  with  the  president  and  his 
cabinet,  established  during  his  sojourn  in  Washing 
ton,  he  is  now  prepared  to  act  in  harmony  with  them. 
At  the  same  time,  knowing  California,  and  having 
the  confidence  of  Californians,  he  is  able  to  exercise 
there  the  widest  and  most  beneficent  influence.  The 
faith  of  the  people  in  his  latent  power  is  a  pillar  of 
strength. 


112  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

During  the  first  year  of  his  administration  the 
friends  of  the  south  were  everywhere  active  in  their 
efforts  to  gain  some  advantage  for  their  cause;  but 
the  watchfulness  of  the  governor  and  the  relieving  of 
General  A.  S.  Johnston,  a  rank  secessionist,  by  General 
Summer,  a  loyal  unionist,  in  the  command  of  this 
military  department,  did  much  to  subvert  their 
machinations.  The  restless  spirits  gradually  gave  up 
hope  and  began  to  move  away.  Many  went  south 
and  were  killed  in  the  war;  a  few  returned  to  Cali 
fornia  after  the  war  was  over.  Fortunately  there 
were  some  50,000  stand  of  small  arms  at  Benicia,  a 
larger  supply  than  in  all  the  other  loyal  states  in 
the  union  when  the  rebel  guns  first  fired  on  Fort 
Sumter.  The  governor  promptly  set  himself  to  work, 
organizing  the  militia  throughout  the  state,  which  ere 
long  numbered  ten  regiments  of  volunteers.  The 
young  men  of  California  had  come  promptly  forward 
in  the  service  of  their  country  in  the  hope  of  being 
sent  to  the  front;  but  greatly  to  their  disappoint 
ment  it  was  decided  that  they  were  needed  to  protect 
our  own  shores;  and  indeed  to  them  this  section  owes 
its  security. 

There  was  a  secret  service  fund  at  the  disposal  of 
the  governor,  but  the  only  use  he  ever  made  of  it 
was  to  keep  men  stationed  at  various  points  to  watch 
the  course  of  events  and  report  to  him.  Most  of  all, 
and  with  most  beneficial  results,  the  governor  sought 
to  foster  a  spirit  of  kindliness  and  forbearance  among 
those  who  differed  in  opinion  on  the  questions  of  the 
day.  The  men  of  the  south  were  as  a  rule  honest  in 
their  convictions;  they  fought  for  their  altars  and 
their  firesides  as  well  as  the  men  of  the  north;  both 
sides  were  following  in  good  faith  their  teachings  and 
traditions.  The  difference  was  that  one  side  was  in 
error.  The  ruler  who  could  peacefully  control  these 
hot  contending  factions  carried  in  his  hands  a  mighty 
power,  the  power  of  kindness,  of  charity,  the  power 
by  which  nations  are  subdued  more  readily  than  by 


LELAND  STANFORD.  113 

the  sword.  The  result  was  that,  during  the  latter 
part  of  Governor  Stanford's  administration,  there 
were  nearly  as  many  democrats  opposed  to  any  dis 
turbance  as  there  were  republicans.  Politics  were 
indeed  rarely  discussed  in  social  circles.  And  all  the 
time  the  governor  possessed  confidence  in  himself; 
he  knew  upon  what  he  had  to  rely;  he  knew  the  peo 
ple  of  California;  he  felt  himself  to  be  master  of  the 
situation;  let  the  friends  of  the  union  at  the  east  take 
care  of  themselves,  and  he  would  answer  for  this  west 
ern  seaboard. 

To  the  many  important  measures  of  Governor 
Stanford's  term  I  can  but  briefly  allude.  At  the 
outset  an  untoward  incident  occurred ;  but  little  was 
made  of  it  among  so  many  matters  of  weightier 
import.  During  the  winter  of  1861-2  there  were 
heavy  falls  erf  rain  in  the  valleys  and  snow  in  the 
mountains.  About  mid- winter  the  snow  in  the  moun 
tains  began  to  melt,  the  rains  in  the  valleys  continu 
ing.  The  consequence  was  the  overflow  of  rivers 
and  the  inundation  of  vast  areas  of  lowlands.  There 
was  widespread  consternation  and  ruin  everywhere. 
Houses  and  bridges  were  carried  away,  farms 
destroyed,  and  many  lives  were  lost.  On  the  very 
day  of  the  governor's  inauguration  the  streets  of  the 
capital  were  several  feet  under  water,  so  that  his 
party  was  obliged  to  go  and  return  from  the  state- 
house  in  boats.  Such  was  the  condition  to  which  the 
city  was  reduced  that  the  legislature  and  state  officials 
were  obliged  to  remove  temporarily  to  San  Francisco. 

His  messages  to  the  legislature  and  his  state 
papers  and  correspondence  with  the  national  govern 
ment  display  in  the  clearest  light  his  broad  informa 
tion,  his  sound  common-sense,  and  his  comprehensive 
grasp  of  the  situation.  First  of  all  he  had  made  it 
his  business  to  acquaint  himself  in  the  fullest  degree 
with  the  condition,  institutions,  industries,  and  require 
ments  of  the  state.  He  held  pronounced  ideas 
regarding  finance  and  revenue,  mines  and  agriculture, 

C.  B.— II.     8 


114  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

the  geological  survey  and  harbor  defenses,  the  codifi 
cation  of  the  laws,  the  Chinese  question,  the  common 
school  system,  forest  and  swamp  lands,  Indian  and 
military  affairs  and  public  buildings ;  and  upon  these 
and  scores  of  other  topics  coming  within  his  jurisdic 
tion  his  messages  were  masterpieces  of  political  liter 
ature. 

During  the  administration  of  Governor  Stanford 
an  end  was  put  to  squatterism.  Prior  to  this  time 
squatter  sovereignty  held  sway  in  many  localities  and 
squatter  riots  were  frequent.  Persons  without  titles 
took  possession  of  lands,  which  they  occupied  by 
force.  They  were  sometimes  ejected  by  officers  of 
the  law,  but  more  often  they  seized  and  ejected  the 
sheriff  sent  to  arrest  them,  not  infrequently  resorting 
to  manslaughter  rather  than  yield.  All  this  was  now 
stopped  by  a  firm  exercise  of  the  law. 

In  the  midst  of  civil  war  and  general  reform  the 
indebtedness  of  the  state  was  reduced  one-half.  A 
state  normal  school  was  established,  which  has  ever 
since  exercised  a  most  beneficial  influence  on  the 
cause  of  education.  Impecunious  politicians  and 
corrupt  officials  seemed  agreed  that  this  was  no  time 
for  them  to  indulge  in  their  usual  traffic ;  and  the 
consequence  was  peace,  prosperity,  and  happiness  to 
the  people  of  the  state  at  large.  At  the  close  of  his 
term  a  concurrent  resolution  of  the  legislature  returned 
him  the  thanks  of  the  people  for  the  able  and  upright 
manner  in  which  he  had  discharged  the  duties  of 
governor. 

But  all  his  achievements  in  commerce,  in  govern 
ment  and  legislation  sink  into  insignificance  beside 
that  grandest  of  enterprises,  the  building  of  the 
Central  Pacific  railroad.  It  was  of  all  matters, 
next  to  the  welfare  of  his  country,  the  one  that  lay 
nearest  to  the  heart  of  Leland  Stanford ;  it  was 
among  the  first  topics  discussed  in  the  governor's 
inaugural  address,  in  which  it  is  called  the  great 


LELAND  STANFORD.  115 

desideratum  of  California,  of  the  world,  and  of  the 
age.  "No  more,"  it  says,  "could  the  commercial 
world  dispense  with  the  use  of  this  road,  when  once 
its  relations  have  been  regulated  and  accommodated 
to  it,  than  could  the  west  dispense  with  the  great 
lakes  and  the  Erie  canal,  or  the  southwest  with  the 
Mississippi  river." 

The  story  of  the  inception  and  construction  of  the 
first  transcontinental  line  of  railway  must  ever  remain 
one  of  the  most  impressive  themes  of  history — a 
theme,  indeed,  worthy  of  the  new  Arabian  Nights. 
We  have  seen  how,  when  thirteen  years  of  age, 
Leland  listened  with  rapt  attention  to  the  conversa 
tion  on  the  subject  between  his  father  and  Mr  Whit 
ney  at  Elm  grove.  The  views  expressed  by  these 
two  experienced  and  practical  men  and  their  opinions 
as  to  the  possibilities  of  the  future  were  never  for 
gotten  by  the  thoughtful  and  intelligent  youth.  He 
pondered  over  the  matter  while  at  school ;  his  mind 
often  reverted  to  it  after  he  had  turned  his  steps 
westward — while  he  was  in  Wisconsin,  and  more 
particularly  after  reaching  California.  What  to  some 
appeared  an  impossibility,  and  to  others  something  to 
be  consummated,  if  at  all,  perhaps  a  century  hence, 
seemed  to  him,  though  distant,  yet  fully  conceived  in 
the  womb  of  time,  and  sure  at  the  proper  period  to 
be  brought  forth.  Hence  we  may  say  that  all  of  his 
life  he  had  thought  of  it  and  talked  of  it.  During 
the  voyage  to  California,  one  day  when  the  sea  was 
rough  and  Mrs  Stanford  was  suffering  somewhat  in 
consequence,  her  husband  said  to  her,  "  Never  mind, 
a  time  will  come  when  I  will  build  a  railroad  for  you 
to  go  home  on." 

Early  in  1860  James  Bailey,  a  jeweler  of  Sacra 
mento,  called  on  Mr  Stanford  with  information  con 
cerning  Theodore  D.  Judah,  an  engineer,  whom  he 
had  met  and  talked  with  about  his  examination^  of 
the  Sierra  with  a  view  to  railway  possibilities.  Not 
long  afterward  the  governor  had  a  conversation  with 


116  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

C.  P.  Huntington,  then  a  hardware  merchant  of 
Sacramento,  on  the  subject  of  a  railroad,  on  the 
resources  of  the  local  section  of  country  through 
which  it  would  run,  and  how  far  they  would  go 
toward  sustaining  it.  The  result  was  a  meeting  at 
the  house  of  Mr  Stanford  that  evening,  where  the 
subject  was  discussed  until  11  o'clock,  They  then 
agreed  to  meet  the  next  evening,  when  Mr  Stanford 
asked  Mark  Hopkins  to  join  them,  and  the  three 
talked  over  the  matter  until  midnight.  They  were 
now  so  far  agreed  as  to  desire  the  acquaintance  of 
Judah,  and  requested  Bailey  to  introduce  him,  which 
was  done.  Mr  Judah  was  an  engineer  of  no  small 
ability ;  a  man  of  originality  and  boldness  of  thought, 
of  intrepidity  and  energy  of  action,  and  the  light  he 
threw  upon  the  subject  was  of  the  first  importance  to 
his  future  associates.  He  had  scaled  the  Sierra 
many  times  with  the  project  of  a  railway  in  view, 
and  he  assured  them  that  it  was  entirely  feasible. 

By  reason  of  this  information,  added  to  what  they 
gathered  from  others,  it  was  concluded  to  make  up 
a  fund  and  send  out  Judah,  with  a  staff  of  assist 
ants,  to  make  a  peliminary  survey.  Thus  was  the 
great  corporation  informally  organized,  its  promoters 
being  Stanford,  Huntington,  Crocker,  Hopkins, 
Bailey,  and  Judah.  Leland  Stanford  was  elected 
president,  and  C.  P.  Huntington  vice-president. 
Bailey  soon  dropping  out  there  were  five,  of  whom 
but  two,  Stanford  and  Huntington,  survive. 

Mark  Hopkins  was  in  the  grocery  business  with  E. 
H.  Miller,  prior  to  1856,  when  the  partnership  was 
dissolved  and  Hopkins  became  associated  with  Hunt 
ington  in  the  hardware  line.  Hopkins  was  first 
elected  secretary,  holding  the  position  for  a  month 
or  two,  and  was  succeeded  by  Bailey,  until  the  lat 
ter  sold  his  interest  and  dissolved  connection  with  the 
company,  when  E.  H.  Miller,  formerly  the  partner 
of  Mr  Hopkins  in  Sacramento,  became  secretary. 
William  E.  Brown,  Stanford's  private  secretary  when 


LELAND  STANFORD.  117 

he  was  governor,  afterward  became  secretary  for  the 
contract  and  finance  committee,  and  later  kept  the 
book  accounts  for  the  four  associates.  C.  K.  Garri 
son  and  D.  O.  Mills  were  invited  to  join  the  associa 
tion,  but  could  not  see  in  it  a  safe  investment. 
Lloyd  Tevis  says  it  was  the  mistake  of  his  life  that 
he  did  not  take  a  fifth  interest  for  $100,000. 

Probably  there  were  never  five  associates  who 
were  at  once  so  widely  different  in  character,  such 
able  business  men,  and  who  worked  so  long  in  har 
mony  upon  so  vast  an  undertaking  as  Stanford,  Hunt- 
ington,  Hopkins,  and  the  two  Crockers.  Each  one 
played  well  his  part ;  though  not  by  any  single  mem 
ber  but  by  a  combination  of  business  talent,  such  as 
this  western  commonwealth  has  never  witnessed,  were 
the  final  results  achieved. 

The  immense  business  growing  out  of  building  the 
railway  was  managed  by  means  of  various  corpora 
tions,  organized  and  controlled  by  the  associates,  the 
stock  being  almost  entirely  owned  by  them.  Thus 
was  formed  the  Contract  and  Finance  company  in 
1867,  which  was  succeeded  by  the  Western  Develop 
ment  company.  The  main  office,  at  first  at  Sacra 
mento,  was  finally  removed  to  San  Francisco,  where 
the  directors'  meetings  were  held,  the  vice-president 
residing  in  New  York. 

True,  men  had  thought  of  this  spanning  of  the 
continent  before ;  some  few  had  even  proposed  to 
attempt  it.  But  all  the  speculations  which  had  pre 
ceded  were  now  to  give  place  to  tangible  realities. 
It  was  the  crystallization  of  a  century's  ideas,  the 
embodiment  of  phantasies  conceived  by  weaker 
minds  but  now  transformed  into  palpable  results. 

The  spirit  of  enterprise  was  very  strong  in  Mr 
Stanford,  but  yet  stronger  was  the  spirit  of  patriot 
ism.  In  the  accumulation  of  money  per  se  he  never 
took  special  pleasure,  but  to  build  a  railroad,  to  plant 
an  orchard  or  a  vineyard  which  would  be  of  value  to 
coming  generations,  was  to  him  a  source  of  bound- 


118  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

less  satisfaction.  Says  one  who  knew  him  well :  "  This 
great  work  of  his  was  not  for  personal  enrichment 
and  aggrandizement.  I  know  that  for  years  he 
would  have  willingly  given  up  every  point  he  had 
made,  every  share  of  stock  he  held,  if  he  could  have 
been  assured  that  the  men  to  whom  he  was  willing 
to  transfer  his  interests  would  make  the  road  the 
grand  success  he  had  marked  out  for  it.  In  other 
words  his  main  idea  was  to  benefit  mankind  and 
develop  this  great  and  magnificent  country,  so 
sparsely  peopled,  and  yet  containing  such  fabulous 
wealth  in  its  undeveloped  mines  and  virgin  agricul 
tural  resources,  awaiting  only  cheap  and  rapid  trans 
portation." 

Few  at  that  time  considered  the  project  feasible. 
Even  the  associates  themselves  did  not  know  when 
or  where  their  efforts  would  cease,  though  they  hoped 
to  continue  eastward  indefinitely.  "  We  are  going 
to  try  to  build  this  road,"  Hopkins  said,  "  though  we 
may  not  succeed."  But  those  who  knew  the  men 
best  had  most  confidence.  As  Mr  Miller  remarks, 
"  It  looked  to  a  great  many  people  as  it  did  to 
me  ;  but  having  become  associated  with  them  as  I 
was,  and  knowing  of  their  efforts,  I  believed  that 
they  would  accomplish  what  they  had  taken  in 
hand." 

Governor  Stanford  is  a  man  so  organized  that  he 
could  not  accept  a  trust  or  fill  an  office  in  a  merely 
mechanical  way.  When  placed  by  circumstances  in 
any- responsible  position  the  prominent  idea  with  him 
was  not,  what  personal  profit  can  I  derive  from  this 
office,  but  how  can  I  best  fulfil  my  duty,  how  can  I 
best  serve  my  country  ?  Such  were  the  sentiments 
which  inspired  him  when  first  his  mind  began  to 
dwell  upon  a  trans-continental  railway,  and  the  possi 
bility  of  its  accomplishment.  A  bloody  civil  war  was 
raging  in  the  east,  which  the  political  powers  of 
Europe,  jealous  of  our  prosperity  and  greatness,  were 
only  too  ready  to  encourage.  Our  seaboard  lay 


LELAND  STANFORD.  119 

exposed  to  the  attacks  of  our  enemies.  Without 
adequate  means  of  defense,  and  cut  off  from  our 
armies  by  a  wide  stretch  of  mountain  and  desert,  we 
were  at  the  mercy  of  our  foes.  It  seemed  to  this 
man  a  national  necessity  that  there  should  be  estab 
lished  at  once  some  better  means  of  inter-communi 
cation  between  the  eastern  and  western  extremes  of 
the  republic.  The  very  existence  of  the  nation 
demanded  it. 

Likewise  civilization  and  the  prosperity  of  the  peo 
ple  demanded  it.  And  as  his  mind  dwelt  more  and 
more  upon  this  matter,  and  possibilities  grew  into 
probabilities,  visions  of  the  future  arose  therein  which 
in  the  end  proved  the  most  brilliant  certainties. 

When  offered  the  nomination  for  governor  of  Cali 
fornia  for  a  second  term  he  said,  "No;  I  would 
rather  build  the  Central  Pacific  railroad  than  be 
president  of  the  United  States."  At  another  time 
he  remarked,  "  The  thing  will  not  be  done  until  not 
only  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  with  all  their  varied 
interests  and  institutions,  are  united  by  iron  bands, 
but  there  must  be  lines  of  transportation  between  all 
the  chief  cities  and  through  all  the  principal  valleys 
of  this  western  coast ;  nor  will  I  rest  content  until  I 
can  sit  in  my  house  in  San  Francisco  and  say, '  There 
comes  a  train  from  New  York  ;  another  will  be  pres 
ently  due  from  the  Mexican  gulf;  and  yet  another 
will  soon  arrive  from  the  city  of  Mexico.'  ' 

The  rugged,  white-crested  Sierra  seemed,  while 
frowning  upon  this  project,  to  smile  disdainfully  at 
his  efforts,  the  winter  winds  meanwhile  whistling 
defiance  among  the  loftier  peaks,  or  threatening  to 
forbid  encroachments  on  their  home  amid  the  gorges. 
To  scale  the  lowest  pass  required  an  elevation  of 
7,000  feet  within  a  distance  of  eighty-three  miles, 
and  the  idea  that  a  locomotive,  dragging  after  it 
heavy  trains  of  cars,  would  climb  ascents  where  pack- 
animals  and  wagons  found  difficulty  in  picking  their 
way  was  deemed  preposterous,  Then,  too,  the  sum- 


120  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

mit  attained,  the   descent   on   the   eastern   side  was 
hardly  less  difficult. 

Five  preliminary  surveys  were  made  for  a  path 
across  the  Sierra,  and  finally  what  was  then  known 
as  the  Dutch  flat,  or  Donner  lake,  route  was  chosen. 
Climbing  to  the  summit,  they  looked  out  on  the  for 
bidding  expanse,  and  then  on  Donner  lake,  1,200  feet 
below.  North  of  the  lake  descent  was  not  practica 
ble,  while  to  the  south,  from  the  sheet  of  water  arose 
walls  of  granite,  clinging  to  whose  sides  the  road 
must  pass,  if  ever  one  should  be  built.  Men  said  it 
was  impossible  ;  nevertheless  it  was  done.  The  rail 
road  men,  when  asked  how  they  ever  dared  to  under 
take  it,  answered,  "  Because  we  were  not  railroad 
men." 

In  1861,  under  a  general  law  of  the  state  of  Cali 
fornia,  they  organized  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad 
company  of  California,  with  a  nominal  capital  of 
$8,000,000,  to  construct  a  railway  from  Sacramento 
to  the  eastern  boundary  line  of  California,  after  which 
they  laid  their  project  before  the  legislative  assembly 
of  Nevada  and  received  its  consent  to  carry  the  road 
through  that  territory.  It  was  during  the  autumn 
of  this  year  that  Mr  Stanford  was  elected  governor. 
On  ascertaining  that  a  practicable  route  existed  over 
the  mountains,  it  was  determined  to  make  immediate 
representations  to  the  federal  government  and  see 
what  could  be  done.  A  bill  was  therefore  framed  in 
Sacramento,  which  was  the  foundation  of  the  one 
actually  passed,  and  that  winter  Judah  and  Bailey 
were  sent  to  Washington.  Judah  at  once  took  hold 
of  the  matter  andwa^  appointed  clerk  of  the  commit 
tee  on  railroads.  This  gave  him  an  opportunity  to 
pour  forth  with  great  enthusiasm  all  his  knowledge 
of  the  route  and  details,  and  explain  them  fully  to 
the  members.  The  result  was  that  on  the  1st  of 
July  1862  the  Pacific  railroad  act  was  passed,  char 
tering  the  Union  Pacific  and  giving  to  this  company 
and  to  the  Central  Pacific  five  alternate  sections 


LELAND   STANFORD.  121 

per  mile  on  each  side  of  their  road,  except  mineral 
lands. 

The  government  further  agreed  that  as  soon  as  the 
lines  of  the  roads  were  determined  it  would  survey 
the  lands.  It  authorized  the  Union  Pacific  company 
to  build  westward  from  the  Missouri  river  to  the 
eastern  line  of  California,  and  conferred  on  the  Cen 
tral  Pacific  the  privilege  of  constructing  the  road 
"  from  the  Pacific  coast  at  or  near  San  Francisco  or 
the  navigable  waters  of  the  Sacramento  river"  east 
ward  till  it  should  meet  the  Union  Pacific.  For  150 
miles  in  the  most  difficult  portion  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  and  an  equal  distance  in  the  Rocky  moun 
tains,  the  bond  loan  was  to  be  $48,000  a  mile  ;  for 
the  distance  between  the  great  mountain  chains  it 
was  to  be  $32,000;  and  for  the  remainder  $16,000. 
Of  these  bonds,  however,  one-seventh  or  more  were 
to  be  retained  until  the  roads  should  be  completed ; 
anJ  the  remainder  were  to  be  delivered  to  the  com 
panies  in  amounts  when  earned  after  each  section  of 
forty  miles  had  been  finished.  The  companies  might 
give  a  second  mortgage  on  their  roads  to  private 
capitalists  for  an  amount  equal  to  the  first  mortgage 
held  by  the  government.  Five  per  cent  of  the  net 
earnings  of  the  road  after  completion  must  be  applied 
annually  toward  the  payment  of  the  principal  and 
interest  of  the  government  bond  loan.  It  was  pro 
vided  that  if  these  roads  should  not  be  completed  on 
July  1,  1876,  so  as  to  form  a  continuous  iron  track 
from  the  Missouri  to  the  Sacramento  river,  then  they 
should  become  the  property  of  the  United  States, 
with  all  their  rolling  stock  and  buildings. 

The  chief  causes  which  led  the  government  to  aid 
in  the  construction  of  an  overland  railway  were,  that 
it  was  a  political  necessity  and  would  prevent  the 
loss  to  the  union  of  the  Pacific  states;  that  it  was  a 
military  necessity  and  would  enable  the  government 
by  rapid  movement  of  troops  to  resist  the  invasion 
of  a  foreign  enemy ;  that  it  would  end  the  Indian 


122  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

wars;  that  it  would  furnish  cheaper  and  more  rapid 
means  of  transportation  for  mails,  troops,  and  army 
supplies;  and  that  it  would  lead  to  the  peopling 
and  development  of  a  vast  uninhabited  region. 

The  actual  work  of  construction  was  begun  on  the 
8th  of  January  1863,  when  the  first  shovelful  of 
e^rth  was  turned  by  the  president  of  the  company  at 
Sacramento.  Did  those  present  realize  the  full  sig 
nificance  of  that  act?  Few  of  them,  indeed.  Said 
Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton,  on  breaking  ground 
for  the  first  railroad  constructed  in  the  United  States, 
on  the  4th  of  July  1828:  "I  consider  this  among 
the  most  important  acts  of  my  life,  second  only  to 
that  of  signing  the  declaration  of  independence,  even 
if  second  to  that." 

An  amendatory  act  was  passed  by  congress  July  2, 
1864,  increasing  the  land  subsidy  to  ten  sections,  and 
authorizing  each  company  to  draw  its  bonds  on  the 
completion  of  each  twenty-mile  section.  In  1866  the 
Central  Pacific  was  only  eighty  miles  east  of  Sacra 
mento,  though  6,000  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea, 
while  the  Union  Pacific,  which  did  not  begin  work 
until  after  1865,  was  in  the  Platte  valley,  and  had 
completed  at  the  end  of  the  year  260  miles  of  road. 
There  were  many  dark  days  after  the  Central  Pacific 
had  begun  its  work,  and  before  the  Union  Pacific  had 
been  able  to  accomplish  anything.  In  the  midst  of 
the  discussion  and  passage  of  the  act  of  1864,  John 
ston's  army  confronted  Sherman,  Lee  held  Grant  in 
check,  and  Early  was  advancing  on  the  national  cap 
ital.  In  Mexico  Maximilian  sat  upon  the  throne, 
while  Bazaine  with  French  troops  waited  until  Napo 
leon  III  might  form  an  alliance  with  England  to 
recognize  the  confederacy. 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  original  act  the  rail 
road  could  never  have  been  constructed  with  the  means 
then  at  the  command  of  the  directors.  The  main 
difficulty  was  the  clause  whereby  the  government 
subsidy  was  made  a  first  lien  on  the  road  and  its 


LELAND   STANFORD.  123 


equipments,  thus  preventing  the  corporation  from 
raising  on  their  property  such  additional  means  as 
would  be  needed.  Hence  it  was  not  until  after  the 
passage  of  the  amendatory  act  that  Mr  Stanford 
and  his  colleagues  threw  themselves  heart  and  soul 
into  the  work,  with  a  confidence  and  zeal  that  finally 
overcame  all  obstacles.  It  was  in  truth  a  "struggle 
of  cnants,  and  during  the  earlier  portion  of  this  strug 
gle,  when  the  clouds  hung  darkest  over  the  Sierra, 
and  success  appeared  most  doubtful,  a  heavy  por 
tion  of  the  burden  fell  to  the  lot  of  the  governor. 
While  Huntington  was  in  New  York,  purchasing  and 
forwarding  supplies,  while  Crocker  was  at  the  front, 
uro-ino-  forward  his  army  of  workmen,  on  Mr  Stan 
ford  devolved  the  task  of  furnishing,  as  best  he  could, 
the  necessary  funds;  and  in  doing  so  the  obstacles  to 
be  overcome  were  even  more  formidable  than  the 
gorges  and  canons,  the  rock-ribbed  fastnesses  of  the 
mountains  themselves.  Here  was  displayed  the  force 
of  character  of  which  he  is  so  largely  possessed,  and 
which  now  served  him  well  in  his  struggle  with  the 
moneyed  kings. 

Says  one  of  his  admirers  :  '*  Governor  Stanford  car 
ries  with  him  that  something,  call  it  what  you  may, 
that  impresses  all  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact 
with  confidence  in  him  as  a  man,  confidence  in  him  as 
a  man  who  will  succeed,  a  something  worth  more  than 
endorsements  and  collaterals,  for  his  very  presence  is 
of  itself  an  endorsement.  This  was  exemplified  in  the 
early  days  of  the  railroad  building.  When  the  Cen 
tral"  Pacific,  as  a  corporation,  could  not  raise  a  single 
dollar,  Governor  Stanford  had  an  overdraft  of  $2,500,- 
000,  and  all  the  bank  held  was  the  individual  paper 
of  these  four  railroad  builders.  It  certainly  showed 
men's  confidence  in  the  creative  genius  of  this  man 
who  was  here  controlling  the  finances  at  this  end  of 
the  line.  Had  the  governor  stopped  one  instant  and 
looked  back,  and  contemplated  things  as  they  actually 
existed,  the  road  would  never  have  been  built," 


124  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

No  .one  knew  better  than  Mr  Stanford  the  engin 
eering  difficulties  to  be  overcome,  difficulties  pro 
nounced  by  many  scientific  men  as  insurmountable; 
so  that  one  engineer  of  standing  and  repute  declared 
that  the  road  could  not  be  built  within  fifty  years, 
though  the  directors  had  at  their  command  all  the 
millions  in  the  bank  of  England.  Even  the  stout 
heart  of  the  governor  sank  within  him  for  a  moment, 
as,  from  a  peak  to  which  he  had  climbed,  he  gazed  upon 
the  endless  array  of  mountain -tops.  "Is  it  possible," 
he  exclaimed,  "that  a  railroad  can  be  built  through 
such  a  country?  "  But  his  was  indeed  the  faith  that 
removes  mountains. 

As  to  the  particulars  of  this  great  engineering  feat, 
the  greatest  in  the  history  of  the  present  age,  and 
perhaps  in  the  history  of  mankind,  it  is  unnecessary 
here  to  give  any  detailed  description,  and  the  more 
so  as  it  has  been  a  hundred  times  described.  Suffice 
it  to  say  that  construction  was  pushed  with  marvel 
lous  rapidity,  and  the  road  completed  seven  years 
before  the  specified  time.  "  It  cannot  be  possible," 
said  another  well-known  engineer,  "for  you  to  finish 
the  road  in  ten  years.  Why,  if  you  laid  half  a  mile 
of  track  a  day  you  could  not  do  it."  And  at  that 
date  half  a  mile  a  day  was  considered  a  somewhat 
extraordinary  performance.  But  with  the  Central 
Pacific  from  two  to  three  miles  was  the  usual  distance 
on  the  plains,  and  on  one  occasion  ten  and  a  quarter 
miles  were  laid  between  dawn  and  dark. 

But  great  as  were  the  physical  dificulties  to  be 
overcome  in  crossing  the  steep  Sierra,  the  financial 
and  political  impediments  were,  as  I  have  said,  still 
greater,  and  but  for  the  diplomatic  and  administrative 
abiluVy  brought  to  bear  on  the  work,  it  would  never 
have  been  completed  by  private  individuals,  and 
many  years  would  have  elapsed  before  it  would  have 
been  completed  at  all.  No  aid  could  be  obtained 
from  congress  until  forty  miles  of  railway  and  tele- 


LELAND   STANFORD.  125 

graph  were  finished  and  in  good  working  order,  and 
when  the  bonds  were  finally  delivered  they  were  sell 
ing  at  an  enormous  discount.  To  grade  these  forty 
miles,  bridge  the  American  river,  purchase  and  for 
ward  iron  for  the  road  was  no  small  feat  for  these 
Sacramento  merchants.  Then,  too,  in  the  face  of  a 
constantly  depreciating  currency,  ^prices  of  material 
were  constantly  advancing.  A  large  portion  of  their 
payments  must  be  in  gold  ;  a  large  portion  of  their 
receipts  were  in  currency.  National  finances,  further 
more,  were  at  a  low  ebb,  and  private  capital  was 
timid.  Moneyed  men  everywhere  preferred  awaiting 
the  outcome  of  the  great  civil  strife  before  parting 
with  their  funds.  Owners  of  toll-roads  over  the 
Sierra  who  derived  large  profits  from  the  Washoe 
traffic,  together  with  some  of  the  most  powerful  cor 
porations  in  the  state,  used  every  means  in  their 
power  to  defeat  the  railroad  enterprise.  For  every 
dollar  that  was  subscribed  for  it  hundreds  were  con 
tributed  for  its  defeat,  and  for  this  purpose  no  stone 
was  left  unturned,  no  means,  however  unscrupulous, 
were  disregarded. 

Nevertheless,  with  a  survey  made,  and  a  practical 
route  laid  out,  even  after  the  passage  of  the  first 
railroad  act  by  congress,  the  associates  for  the  moment 
became  quite  hopeful.  They  entertained  no  doubt 
that  Californians,  particularly  the  people  of  San  Fran 
cisco,  would  come  promptly  to  their  aid.  Indeed,  as 
a  precautionary  measure,  lest  the  moneyed  men  at 
the  bay  should  get  more  than  their  share,  they  first 
opened  their  books  for  subscriptions  of  stock  at  Sac 
ramento,  where  much  enthusiasm  prevailed,  and  for 
a  time  people  subscribed  freely. 

They  then  carried  their  subscription  books  to  the 
bay  and  opened  their  doors  to  the  people  of  San 
Francisco.  The  first  day  they  failed  to  come ;  the 
second  day  none  made  their  appearance  ;  the  third 
day  the  office  was  not  troubled  with  visitors.  They 
thought  there  must  be  some  mistake  about  it — that 


126  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

the  people  of  San  Francisco  did  not  know  the  books 
were  really  open  in  their  midst  for  subscriptions  to 
stock  for  the  construction  of  an  overland  railway, 
under  act  of  congress,  all  in  proper  form ;  they  could 
not  be  aware  that  the  blessing  they  had  so  long 
labored  and  prayed  for  was  now  at  their  doors,  and 
that  they  had  only  to  stretch  out  their  hand  and 
receive  it. 

So  the  associates  concluded  to  call  on  them  per 
sonally  and  explain  matters.  They  did  not  pretend, 
for  at  the  time  they  did  not  believe,  that  they  would 
complete  the  road  in  less  then  ten  years,  and  as  there 
would  be  no  dividends  until  it  was  finished,  and  money 
was  then  worth  two  or  three  per  cent  a  month,  the 
capitalists  of  San  Francisco  could  see  no  advantage 
in  putting  money  into  anything  that  gave  promise  of 
no  return  for  so  long  a  period,  and  then,  probably, 
less  than  they  were  getting  from  present  investments. 
Under  the  circumstances  each  man  was  willing  that 
every  other  man  should  build  an  overland  railway; 
it  was  a  consummation  devoutly  to  be  wished  for,  and 
it  was  to  be  hoped  that  someone  would  do  it.  And 
all  San  Francisco  would  do  was  to  subscribe  for  ten 
shares,  and  that  at  the  hands  of  a  Frenchman  who 
never  paid  but  one  instalment  on  his  stock;  all  that 
San  Francisco  ever  did  was  to  take  $600,000  worth 
of  stock,  afterward  compromising  by  paying  $400,000 
in  cash  and  taking  no  stock. 

What  was  to  be  done  ?  How  construct  the  first 
forty  miles  which  should  entitle  them  to  such  aid 
from  government  as  would  enable  them  to  build  the 
next  forty  miles  ?  After  trying  several  projects  they 
at  length  induced  the  legislature  of  California  to 
authorize  the  people  of  Placer,  Sacramento,  and  San 
Francisco  counties  to  subscribe  to  a  certain  portion 
of  the  stock,  which  was  done.  But  other  nests  of 
hornets,  one  after  another,  were  stirred  up  by  this 
railroad  act,  which  required  them  to  build  a  telegraph; 
so  that  besides  Wells,  Fargo  and  company,  with 


LELAND  STANFORD.  127 

their  overland  stage  line,  and  the  Steam  Navigation 
company,  who  wanted  to  see  no  railroad  between 
Sacramento  and  San  Francisco,  and  the  Pacific  Mail 
Steamship  company  who  would  have  their  traffic 
between  New  York  and  San  Francisco  interfered 
with,  they  had  now  the  Western  Union  Telegraph 
company  against  them. 

As  those  at  the  head  of  these  corporations  were 
among  the  principal  moneyed  men  of  San  Francisco, 
the  consequence  was  that  the  opposition  became  very 
powerful.  They  caused  printed  matter  to  be  sent 
out  representing  the  railroad  company  as  a  swindle, 
and  maintaining  that  it  was  impossible  to  build  a 
road  over  the  mountains.  The  newspapers  contained 
ridiculous  statements,  with  their  usual  disregard  for 
truth  and  the  interests  of  the  commonwealth  where 
their  popularity  is  concerned.  These  calumnies, 
translated  into  French  and  German,  and  circulated 
everywhere,  made  much  more  difficult  their  task; 
but  the  dog-in-the-manger  policy  of  these  men,  who 
wjuld  neither  build  the  road  themselves  nor  permit 
others  to  build  it,  was  not  destined  in  the  end  to 
prevail. 

These  were  indeed  days  of  trial;  of  great  care  and 
anxiety,  and  of  severe  labor.  Governor  Stanford 
took  upon  himself  the  onerous  duties  of  obtaining 
the  passage  of  necessary  bills,  and  preventing  hostile 
legislation,  besides  conducting  those  financial  negotia 
tions  which  were  of  vital  consequence  to  the  con 
struction  of  the  road  during  the  incipient  stages. 
The  company's  credit  was  then  not  good  in  San 
Francisco,  those  having  hostile  interests  doing  all  in 
their  power  to  discourage  capitalists  from  advancing 
their  funds.  Often  the  governor,  in  negotiating  for 
money,  was  compelled  to  completed  his  arrangements 
privately,  before  the  enemies  of  the  road  became 
aware  that  he  required  it.  Thus  for  four  years  they 
wrestled  with  their  difficulties,  until  they  had  bound 
the  Sierra  in  bands  of  iron. 


128  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

The  Sacramento  valley  road  was  especially  hostile. 
It  was  owned  largely  by  Louis  McLane,  and  the  Cen 
tral  Pacific  was  in  direct  opposition  to  it.  The  asso 
ciates  acquired  about  that  time  a  road  running  from 
Placer  county  out  toward  Lincoln,  thus  giving  them 
a  line  from  Sacramento  into  Placer  county,  so  that 
they  could  compete  with  the  Sacramento  valley  road. 
A  large  owner  in  the  latter,  seeing  the  impending 
danger,  purchased,  on  Governor  Stanford's  authoriza 
tion,  enough  additional  stock  to  give  him  the  control, 
and  the  first  thing  McLane,  knew  Stanford  was  presi 
dent  of  his  company.  » 

J.  Mora  Moss,  president  of  the  Alaska  Ice  com 
pany,  was  an  influential  factor  in  the  Sacramento 
Valley  railroad,  and  threw  his  whole  strength  against 
the  Central  Pacific.  And  well  he  might.  For  when 
the  line  reached  the  mountains,  the  price  was  so 
reduced  that  San  Francisco  alone  saved  half  a  mil 
lion  a  year  on  her  ice  bills. 

The  Sacramento  papers  were  at  first  all  for  the 
associates  and  for  the  road ;  until,  after  keeping  quiet 
for  a  month,  the  Union,  the  most  powerful  journal 
in  the  state,  came  out  against  them  ;  why,  they  never 
exactly  knew,  unless  it  was  for  some  personal 
pique  or  for  the  giving  of  their  printing  to  a  rival 
office. 

On  account  of  the  calumnies  circulated  against 
them,  the  credit  of  the  company,  both  in  America 
and  Europe,  was  at  first  so  impaired  that  not  only 
did  they  have  to  pay  more  for  material,  but  the 
work  was  retarded,  as  we  have  seen.  Only  by  using 
their  own  means  and  their  credit  at  the  east  were 
they  enabled  to  build  thirty-one  miles  of  road,  and 
have  enough  iron  on  hand  to  complete  fifty  miles. 
And  the  most  difficult  task  had  to  be  encountered  in 
the  infancy  of  their  undertaking.  They  could  more 
easily  have  laid  a  track  from  Truckee  to  Chicago 
than  from  Sacramento  to  Truckee. 

But    increasing    embarrassments  seemed   only  to 


LELAND  STANFORD.  129 

increase  the  energy  and  determination  of  the  railroad 
builders.  Mr.  Huntington  stationed  himself  in  New 
York  as  the  financial  and  purchasing  agent  of  the 
company,  and  was  now  recognized  as  one  of  the  ablest 
and  most  successful  of  financiers.  It  required  the 
closest  calculation  to  have  constantly  arriving,  as  it 
was  required,  the  immense  amount  of  material  and 
rolling  stock  necessary  for  the  building  and  equip 
ment  of  the  road,  some  of  it  having  to  cross  the 
Isthmus  and  some  to  be  shipped  round  Cape  Horn. 

One  drawback  was  the  absence  of  these  very  means 
of  communication  which  the  associates  were  endeav 
oring  to  establish.  Speaking  to  men  in  the  east 
about  investing  in  California,  or  in  an  overland  rail 
road,  was  like  asking  them  to  sink  their  money  in 
Australia  or  Siberia.  It  was  1,800  miles  across  the 
country  from  the  Missouri,  with  few  white  inhabit 
ants,  except  the  Mormons  at  Salt  Lake,  and  even 
intelligent  people  knew  nothing  about  it  other  than 
that  it  was  a  vast,  unpeopled  wilderness. 

Nevertheless,  many  of  those  who  are  now  among 
the  most  prominent  citizens  of  the  day  were  always 
fast  friends  of  the  road.  The  associates  had  often  a 
majority  in  the  legislature  in  active  sympathy  with 
them,  and  the  great  mass  of  the  people  all  over  the 
state  were  likewise  on  their  side.  Perhaps  their 
treatment  in  the  Goat  Island  question  wras  their  most 
serious  setback.  They  regarded  that  point  as  the 
natural  terminus  of  the  Central  Pacific  railroad  sys 
tem  ;  but  half  a  dozen  capitalists  interested  them 
selves  to  prevent  it.  Then  the  Alia  came  out  with  a 
strong  article  condemning  the  measure,  picturing 
Goat  Island  as  a  great  city,  with  San  Francisco  as  an 
adjacent  village.  Other  journals  followed  in  the 
same  strain,  and  thus  a  great  excitement  arose. 

One  year  the  legislature  was  selected  especially 
for  the  purpose  of  opposing  the  railroad,  and  it 
became  a  serious  question  with  the  associates  what 
course  they  should  pursue.  At  this  juncture  Gov- 

C.  B.— II.     9 


130  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

ernor  Stanford  remarked  :  "  There  are  forty  men  in 
the  senate,  and  of  a  class  that  I  cannot  believe  desire 
to  injure  us,  if  they  can  be  made  to  understand  what 
they  are  doing."  So  he  took  it  upon  himself  to  secure 
a  majority  in  this  body  and  defeat  hostile  legislation. 
He  went  to  them  and  explained  matters.  One  sena 
tor  was  brought  to  his  house  by  a  friend,  who  desired 
Governor  Stanford  to  reason  with  him,  which  he  did. 
"All  that  you  say  is  very  true,"  replied  the  law 
maker,  "but  I  have  taken  a  different  position  in  my 
speeches  before  the  people.''  "Very  well,"  rejoined 
Stanford,  "after  hearing  what  I  have  said,  if  you 
are  convinced  of  the  truth  of  it,  your  judgment  and 
your  oath  being  on  one  side  and  your  declarations 
before  the  people  on  the  other,  which  should  pre 
dominate  ?  Will  you  allow  your  declarations  to  stand 
against  your  duty  and  your  judgment  ?"  The  result 
was  the  entire  conversion  of  this  man,  who  was  ever 
afterward  the  firm  friend  of  the  railroad. 

During  those  days  of  severest  struggle,  with  no  one 
to  offer  aid  or  sympathy,  the  directors  never  lost 
confidence  in  themselves.  Perhaps  this  was  the  secret 
of  their  success.  On  meeting  an  obstacle  the  ques 
tion  was  not,  "  Can  it  be  overcome  ?"  but  "  How  best 
can  we  overcome  it  ?"  The  dominant  idea  in  San 
Francisco  was  that  a  road  could  not  be  built  over 
the  mountains ;  and  when  the  last  spike  was  driven, 
the  last  blow  struck,  firing  the  cannon  at  Fort  Point, 
there  were  many  who  exclaimed,  "  Well,  I  never 
believed  it  could  be  done  !" 

Not  the  least  among  the  engineering  difficulties 
were  the  heavy  snows  which  barred  their  progress  in 
winter.  On  one  occasion  when  the  governor  was 
with  Mr  Crocker  in  the  mountains,  they  stood  for 
days  on  the  snowplow,  trying  to  make  their  way 
through  the  drifts.  They  ran  the  engines  back  for  a 
mile  or  more,  and  then  came  down  on  the  snowbank 
with  all  their  force,  five  engines  in  the  charge.  But 
the  only  result  was  to  push  the  first  engine  into  the 


LELAND  STANFORD.  131 

drift ;  then  came  the  work  of  drawing  it  out ;  the 
snow  got  into  the  furnace  and  put  out  the  fire ;  the 
engine  was  disabled,  and  the  men  were  compelled  to 
dig  it  out.  This  system  was  tried  until  it  became 
apparent  that  the  snowplow  could  not  be  driven 
through  ;  nor  could  the  road  be  operated  in  any  such 
manner.  This  was  before  the  days  of  improved 
snow  plows. 

What  was  to  be  done  ?  Must  the  road  remain  idle 
for  a  portion  of  every  year  ?  One  day,  as  the  two 
associates  were  discussing  the  matter,  while  lunching 
on  some  boiled  beef  and  bread  obtained  from  a 
miner's  cabin  near  by,  Mr  Stanford  took  out  his  pen 
cil  and  began  figuring  on  the  probable  cost  of  covering 
the  track  with  snowsheds.  Before  the  ccnference 
ended  it  was  agreed  that  by  another  winter  they 
would  have  snowsheds.  Sometimes  the  snowfall  in 
the  mountains  is  forty  feet,  packing  down  to  fifteen 
feet,  and  it  has  been  known  to  be  sixty-five  feet  in 
depth ;  nevertheless,  after  the  snowsheds  were 
erected  they  were  less  troubled  by  snow  blockades  in 
the  high  Sierra  than  on  the  New  York  Central.  So 
powerful  is  man  in  his  conquest  over  nature. 

Some  interesting  experiences  were  encountered  in 
Nevada  in  the  autumn  of  1861.  The  railroad  build 
ers  found  the  state  line  well  up  in  the  Sierra,  on  the 
Truckee  river.  So  on  reaching  that  point  it  became 
necessary  to  obtain  from  the  legislature  of  Nevada 
the  privilege  of  building  a  railroad  through  their 
state. 

Starting  out  from  Sacramento,  Stanford,  Hunting- 
ton  and  Crocker  proceeded  on  horseback  over  the 
Dutch  Flat  road  to  the  summit,  and  thence  were 
guided  by  marked  trees  to  Donner  lake,  where  they 
encamped.  From  this  point  they  continued  their 
journey  by  truck-wagon.  Presently  they  came  to  a 
place  where  a  man  was  cutting  hay.  The  weather 
was  cloudy  and  Mr  Stanford  asked  him  if  he  thought 
it  would  rain.  "  Sir,"  replied  he,  "  I  have  been  here 


132  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

for  ten  months  and  not  a  drop  of  rain  has  fallen,  and 
I  hardly  think  it  will  begin  now  just  because  you 
have  come."  Probably  the  farmer  had  taken  lessons 
from  Mark  Twain,  who  was  early  in  Nevada ;  at  all 
events  the  railroad  builders  found  here  a  foretaste  of 
the  quality  of  wit  they  might  expect  to  find  in  this 
section. 

Sleeping  that  night  under  the  hay,  the  next  morn 
ing  bright  and  early  they  started  off,  Crocker  driving. 
They  came  to  Truckee  canon,  and  as  they  were  pass 
ing  through  the  roughest  part,  Crocker  cracked  his 
whip.  The  horses  made  a  plunge :  the  wheel  struck 
a  stone;  and  the  next  moment  they  were  hurled  out 
of  the  truck,  the  axle  having  broken  in  the  middle. 
Picking  themselves  up,  they  took  in  the  situation. 
There  was  a  wooden  lever  which  they  had  been  using 
for  a  brake,  and  this  they  bound  w  ith  halter  straps  to 
the  axle,  which  they  brought  together,  twisting  the 
straps  into  a  knot  to  tighten  them.  Stanford  then 
took  the  reins,  while  Huntington  and  Crocker  walked. 
There  was  a  blacksmith's  shop  farther  down  the 
mountain,  but  on  reaching  the  place  it  was  found 
deserted.  At  some  distance  yet  farther  on  Mr  Stan 
ford  found  a  wagon  and  team,  which  he  sent  back  for 
his  associates ;  and  Mr  Crocker  often  said  he  would 
never  forget  him  for  sending  this  relief,  as  they  could 
not  have  held  out  much  longer.  The  same  truck  they 
used  in  Nevada  for  ten  days,  and  with  it  recrossed 
the  mountains  to  Sacramento  without  having  to 
repair  it  further.  They  accomplished  their  purpose, 
and  secured  the  passage  of  the  law  desired.  Such 
was  one  of  the  many  adventures  encountered  by  the 
railroad  builders. 

The  Central  Pacific  had  been  at  work  two  years 
before  a  shovelful  of  earth  was  turned  by  the  Union 
Pacific,  which  made  no  move  under  the  first  act  of 
congress.  When  the  amendatory  act  was  passed, 
whereby  bonds  might  be  issued  for  every  twenty 
miles  constructed,  and  when  the  state  of  California 


LELAND  STANFORD.  133 

had  agreed  to  pay  the  interest  on  a  million  and  a 
half  of  Central  Pacific  bonds,  the  company  to  pay 
the  principal ;  with  these  resources  at  command  they 
were  enabled  to  cross  the  Sierra.  After  they  had 
passed  the  mountains  they  laid  500  miles  of  track  in 
less  than  ten  months,  working  a  much  smaller  force 
than  had  been  employed  for  three  years  on  the 
Sierra,  which  rate  of -speed  would  have  carried  them 
to  the  Missouri  river  in  two  years,  and  to  Chicago  in 
less  time  than  it  took  to  cross  the  mountains.  The 
work  in  the  Sierra  was  enormous ;  the  daily  use  of 
powder  alone  often  reaching  500  kegs,  at  $10  to  $12 
a  keg,  while  the  working  force  amounted  to  from 
10,000  to  15,000  men,  absorbing,  indeed,  the  entire 
available  supply. 

But  for  the  delay  at  Newcastle,  owing  to  the  lack 
of  government  aid,  and  but  for  the  opposition  of  Sari 
Francisco  and  the  difficulties  encountered  in  the 
mountains,  the  Central  Pacific  would  have  reached 
Cheyenne,  which  would  have  given  to  San  Francisco 
the  entire  trade  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  The 
work  was  begun  by  small  contractors,  but  this  prov 
ing  unsatisfactory,  a  contract  was  let  to  Mr  Crocker, 
after  which  the  Contract  and  Finance  company  was 
organized  to  continue  the  work.  Twenty  millions 
were  spent  in  reaching  the  summit,  which  was  three 
times  the  government  snbsidy  for  a  hundred  miles. 

The  early  struggles  of  the  builders  can  never  be 
fully  told.  Mr  Stanford  made  five  trips  from  San 
Francisco  to  Salt  Lake  City,  camping  out  summer 
and  winter.  Twenty-seven  winter  nights  he  spent  in 
the  open  air  at  Promontory  at  one  time.  Often  they 
had  to  clear  away  the  snow  to  make  place  for  their 
blankets.  Early  and  late  they  toiled,  and  there  was 
nothing  left  undone  which  man  could  do.  The  great- 

O  OP 

est  economy  was  in  every  way  practised,  and  every 
effort  put  forth  to  insure  the  utmost  speed. 

When  the  Union  Pacific  directors  saw  what  the 
Central  Pacific  had  to  encounter  in  the  Sierras,  the 


134  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

obstacles  and  delays,  they  sent  thither  their  engineers 
to  spy  out  the  situation.  After  due  examination  they 
reported  that  they  could  get  to  the  Sierra  Nevada 
before  the  Central  Pacific  could  cross  the  range,  and 
made  their  arrangements  accordingly.  Had  they 
succeeded  in  doing  so,  the  Central  would  have  had 
only  this  short  piece  of  difficult  road  and  would  have 
been  forever  at  the  mercy  of  the  Union  Pacific.  Their 
work  would  have  been  lost,  so  far  as  any  special 
advantage  to  the  coast  was  concerned,  and  a  body  of 
men  not  in  sympathy  with  the  coast  would  have  con 
trolled  the  carrying  trade. 

In  May  1869,  as  all  the  world  knows,  the  two 
companies  joined  hands  at  Promontory,  where  the 
last  tie  was  laid  more  than  seven  years  before  the 
date  specified  in  the  act.  ''The  loss  sustained  by  the 
Central  Pacific,"  said  Mr  Stanford  in  his  testimony 
before  the  Pacific  Railway  commission,  in  1887,  "in 
thus  complying  with  the  manifest  design  of  congress 
for  the  speedy  completion  of  the  road  was  very  great. 
The  company  did  not  wait  for  a  completion  of  a  con 
tinuous  line  to  convey  materials  and  supplies  for  the 
construction  of  the  road  ;  on  the  contrary,  by  means 
of  teams  and  pack  males  transported  supplies  for 
hundreds  of  miles  in  advance  of  completed  construc 
tion.  It  even  conveyed  railroad  iron,  locomotives, 
and  other  materials  by  teams  in  winter  over  the  deep 
snow  of  the  Siena  Nevada  mountains,  where  little  but 
tunnel  work  could  be  done  in  that  season  of  the  year, 
for  the  construction  of  the  road  beyond,  and  built 
many  miles  of  road  before  a  connection  was  made 
therewith. 

"  I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  commission 
to  some  of  the  sacrifices  made  by  the  company  in 
hurrying  the  work  to  its  early  completion.  The  bonds 
issued  by  the  United  States  to  the  company  were,  on 
account  of  the  war,  disposed  of  at  a  discount  of  over 
$7,000,000.  This  discount,  with  the  interest  on  the 
same  until  the  maturity  of  the  bonds,  will  amount  in 


LELAND  STANFORD.  135 

round  numbers  to  $20,000,000.  There  was  also  a 
like  discount  suffered  on  the  first  mortgage  bonds 
issued  by  the  company,  whereas,  if  the  full  time 
allowed  by  congress  had  been  occupied  in  the  con 
struction  of  the  road,  these  bonds  could  have  been 
sold  at  par.  At  the  time  the  road  was  constructed 
the  prices  of  materials  and  labor  in  California, 
Nevada  and  Utah  were  enormously  inflated,  not  only 
on  account  of  the  war  prices  which  then  prevailed, 
and  the  war  risks  which  were  incurred  in  transporting 
material  from  the  east  by  sea,  but  also  by  reason  of 
the  great  mining  excitement  which  prevailed  in 
Nevada  and  California,  and  absorbed  nearly  all  the 
available  white  labor.  It  will  be  shown  by  the  testi 
mony  of  engineers  who  had  charge  of  the  construc 
tion  of  the  road,  and  other  competent  witnesses,  that 
the  cost  of  construction  exceeded  fifty  per  cent  more 
than  it  would  have  been  if  the  company  had  delayed 
its  final  completion  until  July  1876." 

After  the  completion  of  their  road  the  Central 
Pacific  began  to  purchase  and  build  branch  lines,  or 
feeders.  The  Western  Pacific,  running  from  Sacra 
mento  to  San  Jose,  partially  completed,  they  pur 
chased  and  finished  ;  also  the  line  from  San  Jose  to 
San  Francisco,  and  many  others.  Rich  mines  were 
developed  along  the  trunk  line,  which  gave  them 
profitable  traffic.  They  secured  the  ferry  transit  of 
the  bay,  with  valuable  grants  of  San  Francisco  water 
front. 

Then  they  built  the  Southern  Pacific  to  protect  the 
interests  of  the  Central,  and  lest  the  Southern  over 
land  line  should  fall  into  hostile  hands.  They  also 
purchased  the  narrow-gauge  running  from  San  Fran 
cisco  to  Santa  Cruz,  worth  seven  or  eight  millions. 
The  Central  Pacific  was  leased  to  and  consolidated 
with  the  Southern  Pacific,  and  the  whole  called  the 
Southern  Pacific  system.  The  California  and  Ore 
gon,  running  from  San  Francisco  to  Portland,  was 
consolidated  with  the  Central  Pacific,  the  Pacific 


].36 


GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 


Improvement  company  building  in  California,  Thus 
the  wildest  dreams  of  the  originators  of  the  Pacific 
coast  system  of  rail  ways  could  never  have  approached 
the  reality.  Since  the  junction  of  the  Central  with 
the  Union  Pacific,  which  of  itself  was  the  consum 
mation  of  a  feat  unparalleled  in  the  construction  of 
railroads,  another  trans-continental  line,  as  we  have 
seen,  has  been  built,  with  tributary  and  collateral 
lines  extending  through  the  fertile  valleys  and  most 
productive  districts  of  the  state. 

A  glance  at  the  lines  consolidated  and  managed 
under  the  organization  of  the  Southern  Pacific  com 
pany  gives  but  a  faint  idea  of  the  stupendous  labor 
accomplished  ;  Central  Pacific  ;  San  Francisco  and 
Oakland ;  Yuba ;  Western  Pacific  ;  San  Francisco 
and  Aiameda ;  Stockton  ;  California  and  Oregon  ; 
San  Francisco  Bay  railroad ;  San  Joaquin  Valley 
railroad  ;  Marysville  railroad  ;  Sacramento  Valley 
railroad  ;  Folsom  and  Placerville  ;  Southern  Pacific 
of  California  ;  San  Francisco  and  San  Jose ;  Santa 
Clara  arid  Pajaro  Valley ;  California  Southern  ; 
Southern  Pacific  branch  ;  Los  Angeles  and  San 
Pedro;  Monterey  railroad;  Pajaro  and  Santa  Cruz; 
Loma  Prieta  railroad  ;  Los  Angeles  and  San  Diego  ; 

*  o  O       •* 

Los  Angeles  and  Independence  ;  San  Jose  and  Alma- 
den  ;  Berkeley  branch  ;  Northern  railway ;  San 
Pablo  and  Tulare  ;  Amador  branch  ;  Vaca  Valley 
and  Clear  Lake  ;  San  Joaquin  and  Yosemite  ;  Stock 
ton  and  Visalia  ;  Stockton  and  Copperopolis ;  West 
Side  and  Mendocino ;  Modesto,  Tuolumne,  and  Mono  ; 
California  Pacific  ;  Napa  Valley ;  California  Steam 
Navigation  company  ;  the  Oriental  and  Occidental 
Steamship  company,  etc.,  etc. 

Since  the  last  spike  was  driven  in  1869  there  has 
seldom  been  a  moment  when  cars  were  not  running, 
sometimes  fifty  trains  at  the  same  time,  and  yet  it  is 
said  that  not  a  single  life  has  been  lost  through 
neglect  or  from  faulty  construction. 

It  is  unnecessary  at  this  day  to  speak  of  the  advan- 


LELAND   STANFORD.  137 

tages  to  a  country  and  community  of  railroads.  As 
to  the  special  benefits  conferred  by  the  Pacific  rail 
ways  I  may,  however,  call  attention  to  the  $140,- 
000,000  distributed  in  construction;  the  $330,000 
per  annum  taxes  ;  disbursement  monthly  of  $320,000 
to  10,000  employes,  which  supports  at  least  40,000 
persons ;  reduction  of  freights  and  influx  of  popula 
tion;  increase  of  8,000  farms  in  800  miles;  advance 
in  large  tracts  of  land  of  from  $2.50  to  $500  an  acre  ; 
hundreds  of  new  towns,  and  millions  of  travelers. 
In  eight  of  the  counties  of  southern  California  the 
value  of  taxable  property  increased  from  $31,277,891, 
in  1870,  to  $114,606,905  in  1883. 

In  carrying  the  mails  also  and  in  the  transporta 
tion  of  troops  and  supplies,  ten  times  the  facilities 
are  afforded  the  government  at  one-fifth  the  former 
cost  and  less  than  one-fifth  of  the  time,  the  saving  in 
the  mail  service  alone  amounting  from  July  1,  1869, 
to  December  31,  1885,  to  nearly  $40,000,000. 

The  primary  idea  of  Governor  Stanford  in  regard 
to  the  benefit  of  the  railroad  is  that  it  is  a  great 
civilizer.  It  brings  the  whole  country  into  communi 
cation,  one  part  with  another,  thus  engendering  those 
new  ideas  upon  which  human  advancement  depends. 
Aided  by  the  printing-press  ideas  are  interchanged, 
so  that  the  discoveries  or  inventions  of  one  person 
becomes  the  property  of  all.  But  newspapers  can 
find  their  way  only  where  transportation  affords 
facilities. 

The  advancement  of  the  whole  human  race  springs 
from  the  advancment  of  individuals.  From  the  dream 
of  a  boy  while  observing  the  throbbing  lids  of  a  tea 
kettle  came  the  application  of  the  power  of  steam ; 
and  it  would  be  a  wonderfully  interesting  feature  if 
our  census  statistics  would  show  the  power  of  the 
steam-engine  as  now  employed,  when  compared  with 
the  physical  force  exercised  by  man.  We  say  of  an 
engine  it  is  of  so  many  horse-power ;  if  it  could  be 


]38  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

estimated  as  well  as  of  so  many  man-power  It  would 
prove  most  profitable  food  for  contemplation. 

What  this  one  man's  genius  has  discovered  it  is  for 
the  people  to  use.  But  to  a  savage  roaming  the 
wilderness  the  knowledge  of  steam  would  prove  of 
little  value.  There  must  have  been  some  degree  of 
progression  as  well  as  of  intelligence  for  the  people 
to  profit  by  the  fruits  of  genius.  Much  intricate 
machinery  has  been  invented  during  the  present 
century.  The  agricultural  implements  of  the  year 
1800  were  not  very  greatly  in  advance  of  those  of  the 
year  800  ;  not  so  far  in  advance  of  the  year  800  as 
the  implements  of  1880  are  in  advance  of  those  of 
1800.  The  McCorrnick  reaper  has  enabled  California 
to  raise  wheat  enough  to  feed  ten  millions  of  people 
besides  her  own,  one  million  tons  being  raised  for 
export  by  about  20,000  laborers. 

In  educating  the  people  up  to  a  proper  apprecia 
tion  of  labor  the  railroad  both  leads  and  follows.  It 
spreads  the  idea  of  one  for  the  use  of  many.  In  ages 
back,  if  a  discovery  was  made  it  often  remained  a 
secret  with  the  discoverer,  there  being  few  means  for 
communicating  it.  Wealth  is  of  no  value  except  in 
its  use.  It  might  otherwise  as  well  lie  covered  up 
in  the  mountains,  but  when  employed  it  benefits 
every  one  who  uses  it.  Build  a  railroad,  and  its  value 
is  in  proportion  to  its  use,  to  the  extent  it  facilitates 
the  movements  of  individuals  and  of  merchandise;  it  is 
therefore  the  wealth  of  the  people,  the  shareholders 
being  but  the  nominal  owners.'  The  Pacific  system 
of  railways  subordinated  to  the  uses  of  civilization  a 
wilderness  of  greater  extent  than  the  combined  con 
quests  of  Alexander  and  Caesar ;  and  if  the  builders 
acquired  great  wealth  for  themselves,  they  created 
great  wealth  for  others. 

By  Mr  Stanford  himself  its  benefits  were  thus 
summarized  in  his  remarks  before  the  commission 
above  referred  to.  "  The  Pacific  railroad  has  accom 
plished  all  the  good,  both  local  and  national,  that 


LELAND  STANFORD.  139 

was  predicted  by  its  most  enthusiastic  supporters.  It 
has  demonstrated  the  possibility  of  the  construction 
of  a  transcontinental  road ;  it  has  proved  to  the 
financial  world  that  the  great  interior  abounds  in 
resources  ;  it  has  made  possible  the  construction  of 
other  transcontinental  roads,  with  numerous  branches 
and  feeders ;  it  has  shown  how  the  national  domain 
can  be  utilized  ;  it  has  encouraged  the  development 
of  the  natural  resources  of  California,  and  shown 
that  its  products  of  fruit  and  wines  can  be  transported 
t  >  the  Atlantic  states  by  rail.  It  was  the  first  enter 
prise  anywhere  in  the  world  which  made  possible  the 
habitation  of  reigons  of  a  country  far  remote  from 
invisible  waters  and  has  added  untold  millions  of 
weilth  to  the  nation.  It  has  performed  the  public 
s  jr v he 'so  faithfully  and  expeditiously  as  almost  to 
annihilate  the  distance  between  the  Pacific  and  the 
Atlantic,  and  bring  the  whole  country  into  close  and 
Litimate  political,  social,  and  commercial  relations.  It 
has  performed  the  government  service  in  transporta 
tion  of  mails,  materials  and  supplies  to  the  complete 
satisfaction  of  all  government  officers  having  charge 
of  such  business." 

"  From  the  day  the  railroad  was  opened  for  travel," 
says  Henry  T.  Blake  in  his  pamphlet  entitled  The 
Pacific  Railroads  and  the  Government,  "it  has  fully 
justified  the  report  of  Mr  Wade's  committee  that  it 
was  built  and  equipped  in  all  'respects  as  a  first-class 
road.  Its  operation,  notwithstanding  the  special  diffi 
culties  arising  from  snow,  both  on  the  mountains  and 
on  the  plains,  has  been  regular  and  almost  uninter 
rupted.  There  has  been  a  remarkable  freedom  from 
accidents  of  every  kind,  and  especially  such  as  result 
from  careless  or  fraudulent  construction.  The  ben 
efits  which  they  have  conferred  upon  commerce, 
industry,  and  the  traveling  public,  have  been  of 
course  almost  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  public 
works,  but  scarcely  greater  than  the  immense  and 


140  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

immediate  advantages,  political  and  pecuniary,  which 
have  been  derived  from  them  by  the  government. 

"  The  whole  Pacific  slope,  a  vast  and  almost  inde 
pendent  empire,  was  at  once  thoroughly  absorbed 
into  our  federal  system,  and  the  commerce  and  con 
trol  of  the  Pacific  ocean  was  made  secure.  A  great 
tide  of  immigration  to  the  territories  along  its  line 
brjught  the  government  lands  at  once  into  market. 
Mining  towns,  counties  and  states  sprang  into  exist 
ence  among  the  mountains,  which,  when  the  road  was 
chartered,  were  an  unexplored  region  of  mystery,  and 
began,  like  so  many  inexhaustible  fountains,  to  pour 
forth  those  streams  of  wealth  which  have  since  revo 
lutionized  values.  Indian  wars,  before  so  troublesome 
and  expensive,  were  ended  in  that  portion  of  our  terri 
tory  forever.  The  Mormon  problem  was  solved  and 
all  further  political  danger  from  that  source  averted. 
In  fact,  it  is  impossible  even  to  enumerate  the  benefi 
cent  results  to  our  political  system  which  have  ensued 
from  the  completion  of  the  road.  There  is  no  sane 
man  who  would  for  an  instant  consider  that  two 
hundred  or  five  hundred  millions  of  dollars  would 
compensate  the  government  for  the  loss  of  the  Pacific 
railroads.  Not  one  who  would  not  heartily  endorse 
as  wise  and  sound  the  words  of  Henry  Wilson  in 
1862  :  "If  I  could  get  the  road  by  voting  fifty  mil 
lions  or  one  hundred  millions  to  it  as  a  gift,  I  would 
do  it  most  cheerfully,  and  consider  that  I  was  doing 
a  great  thing  for  my  country." 

In  regard  to  the  rights  of  railroads  and  owners  of 
railroad  property,  Governor  Stanford  takes  strong 
grounds.  Railroad  companies,  he  says,  are  organized 
under  general  laws,  and  have  no  exclusive  privileges. 
Any  citizen,  or  association  of  citizens,  may  avail  them 
selves  of  these  laws  and  build  railroads,  if  they  choose. 
Any  contributions  or  aid  from  individuals,  states,  or 
government,  are  of  a  private  nature,  and  lay  no  obli 
gation  upon  the  corporation,  which  is  a  creature  of 
the  law.  It  is  private  labor  and  private  capital  alone 


LELAND   STANFORD.  141 

that  build  and  operate  a  road.  The  exercise  of 
eminent  domain  in  right  of  way  should  not  be 
regarded  as  a  gift  to  the  stockholders,  but  the  per 
mission  to  pass  through  the  country  a  public  benefit. 
Topography  and  competition  ma}r  make  discrimina 
tion  necessary  and  fair;  it  may  be  better  to  carry  the 
longer  distances  for  less  than  the  shorter  than  not  to 
carry  at  all.  Traffic  which  cannot  afford  to  pay  reg 
ular  rates  may  perhaps  be  profitably  executed  at  rates 
below  the  average  of  fixed  expenses.  Why  then 
should  the  company  be  debarred  from  doing  this  work, 
beneficial  to  itself  and  to  the  shipper,  and  which  can 
not  be  done  on  any  other  terms  ?  The  shorter  dis 
tance  is  not  charged  any  more  because  of  the  less 
rate  for  the  longer  distance.  Maximum  rates  deter 
mine  the  possibilities  of  minimum  rates;  and  it  is 
the  maximum  rates  which  have  enabled  railroads 
to  develop  to  the  extent  that  they  have  the 
vast  resources  of  the  country.  The  railroads,  in 
opening  up  new  countries,  adding  new  industries,  con 
ferring  additional  facilities  for  the  interchange  of 
commodities,  bringing  the  buyer  and  seller  nearer 
together,  promote  the  general  weal  beyond  all  other 
agencies. 

"  Legal  maximum  rates,"  it  has  been  well  observed, 
"afford  little  real  protection  to  the  public,  since  they 
are  always  fixed  so  high  that  it  is,  or  becomes  sooner 
or  later,  the  interest  of  the  companies  to  carry  at 
lower  rates.  The  same  thing  is  true  of  terminal 
charges.  The  circumstances  are  so  various  and  so 
constantly  changing,  that  any  legal  maximum  which 
might  now  be  fixed  would  probably  be  above  the 
charges  now  actually  made,  certainly  far  above  those 
which  will  hereafter  be  made.  ^ 

"  The  attempt  to  limit  rates  and  fares  by  the  princi 
ple  of  fixing  a  maximum  has  always  failed  in  practice, 
and  is  always  likely  to  fail,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
the  authorities  by  whom  such  limits  are  decided  can 
not  do  otherwise  than  allow  some  margin  between  the 


142  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

actual  probable  rate,  as  far  as  they  can  forecast  it, 
and  the  maximum  rate  ;  and  because  they  cannot  fore 
see  the  contingencies  of  competition,  of  increase  in 
quantities,  of  facilities  or  economy  in  working,  or  of 
alterations  of  commercial  conditions,  which  may  occur 
in  the  course  of  years  after  such  limits  have  been 
arranged. 

"The  result  of  thirty  years  of  successive  and  wholly 
abortive  effort  in  this  direction  in  England  has  been 
that  parliament  has  at  last  settled  down  to  the  con 
viction  that  the  development  and  necessities  of  trade 
in  practise  have  always  nullified,  and  inevitably  must 
nullify,  the  provisions  of  special  acts,  no  matter  how 
carefully  and  skilfully  they  may  be  prepared." 

As  to  politics  and  the  railroad,  Mr  Stanford  and 
his  colleagues  never  desired  to  participate  therein, 
except  to  gain  some  necessary  result.  It  should, 
however,  be  stated  that,  when  the  new  constitution 
was  framed,  it  singled  out  the  Central  Pacific,  and 
may  as  well  have  named  it  specifically,  in  the  clause 
which  provides  that  "  all  railroads-  operating  in  more 
than  one  county  should  be  assessed  by  a  different 
tribunal  and  on  a  different  principle  from  the  assess 
ments  of  other  people's  property."  Thus  the  company 
was  compelled  to  fight  or  submit  to  what  would  vir 
tually  amount  to  a  confiscation  of  its  property.  The 
directors  appealed  to  the  courts,  and  though  the  high 
est  tribunal  in  the  land  decided  that  they  had  been 
illegally  assessed  and  did  not  owe  a  dollar,  they  have 
since  paid  millions  into  the  state  and  county  treasury. 
According  to  the  census  of  1880,  the  average  tax  on 
the  railroads  in  fifteen  of  the  United  States  was  $151 
per  mile.  Up  to  the  year  1888  the  Central  Pacific 
paid  $250  per  mile,  or  nearly  $100  in  excess  of  the 
other  companies,  though  under  no  legal  obligation  to 
pay  a  single  cent.  Such  action  is  probably  without 
a  parallel  in  the  history  of  corporations. 

A  meeting  of  2,000  workmen  in  the  Central  Pacific 
railroad  shops  at  Sacramento,  gathered  on  the  10th 


LELAND  STANFORD.  143 

of   March  1873,  was  addressed   by  Mr  Stanford  as 
follows : 

"  Friends :  I  use  that  word  not  formally,  but  as 
addressed  to  people  who  are  engaged  in  a  common 
enterprise  with  myself — men  who  are  and  have  been 
engaged  in  constructing  railroads,  and  in  operating 
them.  To-day,  by  your  labor,  mine  added,  we  are 
developing  the  resources  of  a  great  state.  By  this 
cooperation  of  labor  and  effort — by  this  community  of 
industry  and  interest,  we  are  filling  this  land  with 
plenty,  and  building  for  ourselves  and  for  those  who 
come  after  us  a  land  of  free  and  happy  homes.  Around 
this  work  clusters  all  the  good  which  humanity  knows. 
The  spread  of  intelligence,  the  advancement  of  civili 
zation,  the  onward  march  of  progress;  these  are  being 
brought  out  by  those  who,  like  us,  labor  side  by  side 
in  all  the  practical  undertakings  of  life.  Such  is  the 
work,  my  friends,  in  which  we  are  engaged — in  which 
every  man  connected  with  the  railroad  is  engaged. 
We  ought  to  be  bound  together  by  common  sympathy 
as  we  are  bound  by  a  common  interest,  and  therefore 
I  feel  to  have  a  right  to  address  you  as  my  friends. 
I  can  say  truly  of  every  man,  no  matter  how  humble 
the  station  filled  by  him  in  this  work,  that  I  feel  an 
interest  in  him,  an  interest  in  his  welfare.  Here  in 
this  city,  we  as  citizens  are  approaching  an  important 
municipal  election.  It  has  been  made  the  occasion  of 
vituperative  abuse  and  libel  against  the  railroad  com 
pany.  It  has  attracted  your  attention  of  course,  for 
in  common  with  other  citizens  you  have  an  interest  in 
the  municipal  affairs  of  your  city.  It  is  because  you 
have  this  interest  that  you  have  called  upon  the  direc 
tors  of  the  company  to  explain  to  you  concerning  the 
charges  which  have  been  so  liberally  and  maliciously 
dealt  out  against  us,  that  you  may  understand  the 
position  of  the  company  and  its  interests,  and  the 
relation  of  those  interests  to  the  common  interest 
of  the  community.  Directly  then,  as  to  the  questions 
involved,  let  me  say  I  cannot  call  to  mind  anything 


141  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

that  the  railroad  company  has  ever  proposed,  or  that 
it  has  ever  done,  that  has  injured  this  city  in  the 
least.  And  I  can  say  for  myself  and  for  my  associate 
directors  who  are  citizens  of  this  city,  that  there  is 
not  one  of  them  who,  under  any  conceivable  circum 
stances,  could  be  induced  to  inflict  an  injury  upon  the 
city  of  Sacramento.  We  have  lived  here  too  long, 
we  have  been  too  long  identified  with  her  struggles 
and  sufferings ;  we  have  been  sharers  in  her  prosperity 
and  her  triumphs,  and  will  not  in  the  future,  as  we 
have  not  in  the  past,  seek  to  do  her  injury,  detract 
from  her  reputation,  or  hinder  her  progress. 

"  Fellow-citizens,  the  specific  question  at  issue  in 
this  election  is  said  to  relate  to  the  city  water  front. 
Let  me  say  to  you  now,  that,  so  far  as  this  question 
concerns  us,  we  want  nothing  that  we  have  not  already. 
We  have  abundance  of  room  there  already  to  accommo 
date  our  business,  and  that  is  all  we  want ;  for  every 
vessel  that  comes  to  the  wharves  we  have  built 
wharves  that  cost  the  city  nothing,  and  which  could 
not  have  been  built  except  for  the  use  of  some  one 
like  us  engaged  in  a  general  commerce,  which  have 
increased  the  facilities  for  business  of  the  whole  city, 
we  pay  to  the  city  government  just  the  same  tolls  as 
if  we  had  discharged  at  wharves  constructed  at  the 
expense  of  the  city.  We  have  nothing  to  ask  in  this 
coming  election  more  than  you  as  citizens,  or  we  as 
citizens,  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the  city,  may  not 
ask  in  every  election  which  occurs,  wherein  we  are 
called  upon  to  exercise  the  rights  of  citizenship.  I 
mean  that  common  interest  and  right  which  every 
citizen  feels  and  has  in  the  public  affairs.  It  is  a 
right  every  man  has  to  be  a  candidate  for  office,  and 
I  do  not  believe,  fellow-citizens,  that  because  you 
work  on  the  railroad,  or  because  I  help  you  to  work, 
that  you  or  I  are  thereby  disfranchised,  or  placed 
under  disability  to  exercise  the  common  rights  of 
citizenship.  We  are  entitled  to  all  the  rights  as  when 
we  were  engaged  in  other  pursuits.  I  do  not  know 


LELAND  STANFORD.  145 

where  the  law  is  found  that  denies  to  any  man  the 
right  to  be  a  candidate  for  office,  or  to  have  the  pref 
erence  of  friends  for  office,  because  he  is  connected 
with  the  railroad,  or  to  regard  the  interests  of  his 
friends,  his  town,  his  state,  or  his  country.  I  do  not 
know  of  any  such  law,  although  I  constantly  hear 
it  reiterated,  over  and  over  again,  that,  if  a  man 
wishes  to  be  a  candidate  for  office,  and  shall  declare 
himself  the  friend  of  any  man  connected  with  the 
railroad,  that  man  shall  be  tabooed  and  politically 
ostracised. 

"  So  much  for  our  local  matters.  I  do  not  stand 
here  as  the  particular  advocate  of  any  man.  So  far 
as  Mr  Adams  is  concerned,  I  have  every  confidence 
in  his  capacity  for  the  duties  of  the  office  to  which  he 
aspires,  and  every  confidence  in  his  integrity  as  a  citi 
zen.  I  have  nothing  special  to  ask  of  him.  I  have 
not  conferred  with  him.  I  can  say  here  and  now 
that  I  have  never  made  terms  in  my  life  with  a  man 
as  to  what  he  should  do  after  he  got  into  office.  And 
if  I  cannot  trust  a  man  without  pledges  to  do  right, 
I  cannot  trust  him  under  a  pledge.  Now  my  friends, 
this  Pacific  railroad  has  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
present  board  of  directors,  most  of  them,  for  eleven 
years.  We  have  become  identified  with  it.  It  is  to 
us  our  darling.  Our  hopes,  our  ambitions  go  with  it 
away  beyond  the  mere  pecuniary  results.  Had  that 
been  all,  when  we  had  constructed  the  road  over  the 
mountains  and  made  its  connection  with  the  eastern 
link,  we  might  well  have  been  content;  but  we 
wanted  to  do  something  more.  We  wanted  to  help 
build  up  the  state,  and  so  every  dollar  we  got  was 
put  into  the  building  and  operating  of  a  great  system 
of  railroads.  And  if  we  have  not  done  more,  it  is 
not  want  of  willingness  on  our  part,  but  because  we 
had  no  more  dollars  to  spend.  Are  these  shops  here, 
are  all  of  you  men  an  injury  to  Sacramento?  Has 
any  harm  come  from  your  living  here  ?  Does  harm 
come  from  your  daily  toil;  and  the  money  you  receive, 

C.  B.— II.     10 


146  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

and  the  money  you  expend?  Surely  not,  I  think. 
But  I  said  that  we  were  engaged  in  building  up  a 
great  system  of  railroads.  This  was  our  ambition, 
and  wherever  they  have  gone  they  have  proven  pub 
lic  benefactors.  We  have  performed  every  obligation 
rigidly  to  the  spirit  as  well  as  to  the  letter  so  far  as 
counties,  the  state,  and  the  national  government  were 
concerned.  We  have  created  wealth,  and  the  wealth 
of  the  railroad  company  does  not  consist  in  taking 
money  out  of  one  pocket  and  putting  it  in  the  other, 
but  actual  values,  wealth  to  itself,  and  much  greater 
wealth  to  the  state  and  the  country.  Why,  in  the 
mere  matter  of  taxes  on  the  property  of  this  railroad 
system,  take  all  the  taxes  together,  it  pays  this  year 
over  $430,000.  These  taxes  could  not  be  raised 
excepting  values  had  been  created — wealth,  actual 
wealth  to  the  state.  Our  contract  with  the  national 
government  required  us  to  build  the  road  and  com 
plete  it  in  1878.  We  completed  it  seven  years  earlier 
than  that  time  by  extraordinary  sacrifices  ;  by  sacri 
fices  of  at  least  $10,000,000.  We  were  able  to  give 
to  the  country  the  use  of  these  railroads  seven  years 
earlier  than  it  required  under  the  contract  with  the 
government,  whereby  the  government  itself,  on  the 
two  roads,  the  Central  Pacific  and  Union  Pacific,  is 
saving  annually  about  $7,000,000,  as  shown  by  their 
reports. 

"  Now  in  those  seven  years  the  government  alone 
saved  $49,000,000,  by  this  road  being  constructed 
seven  years  earlier  than  the  contract  required,  and  at 
a  great  sacrifice  to  the  companies — the  two  compa 
nies — probably  not  less  than  $20,000,000.  It  has 
been  charged  upon  the  company  that  it  engages  in 
politics ;  that  is,  that  the  individual  managers  of  it 
do.  Well,  who  does  not?  Is  it  not  the  right  of 
any  citizen  to  engage  in  political  matters  ?  Is  it  not 
your  right,  and  every  man's  right,  to  exercise  just 
such  influence  as  you  are  able,  to  carry  out  and 
enforce  your  political  ideas  ?  More  than  that,  is  it 


LELAND  STANFORD.  147 

not  your  duty  to  do  it?  Gentlemen,  you  owe  it  to 
your  fellow-citizens.  That  is  my  case.  I  claim  the 
right  to  engage  in  politics  if  I  desire,  and  I  claim  the 
right  to  use  all  legitimate  influence  that  I  may  have 
to  enforce  my  ideas,  to  carry  out  those  measures 
which  I  think  will  be  best  to  subserve  the  interests 
of  the  people.  That  is  just  what  the  editors  of  these 
papers  do.  I  do  not  know  that  they  have  any  more 
rights  than  any  one  else.  Such  rights  are  equal  to 
every  one ;  they  are  inseparable  from  free  citizenship 
and  belong  to  you  and  me.  But  I  confess  that  of 
late  years  I  have  not  wished  to  take  any  active  part 
in  politics.  But  when  you  are  struck  at,  if  you  are  a 
man,  you  will  try  to  defend  yourself.  These  people 
are  constantly  putting  up  men  for  office,  not  because 
they  are  good  men,  but  because  they  avow  their 
intention  to  do  a  damage  to  the  railroad,  to  cripple  its 
resources,  and  we  defend  ourselves.  No  further  than 
that,  except  that  I  and  every  other  member  of  the 
board  will,  when  occasion  requires  it,  if  we  please, 
stand  up  for  the  best  men,  and,  like  all  true  men, 
support  our  friends.  Who  is  there  would  not  do  it? 
They  constantly  put  up  men,  as  I  said  before,  for 
office,  who  propose  to  make  war  upon  the  railroad 
interests ;  unfair  men ;  men  who  will  not  listen  to 
argument ;  men  who,  while  they  claim  to  be  honest, 
dare  not  stand  up  in  the  legislature  by  their  own 
convictions,  but  go  as  this  or  that  newspaper  whip  is 
cracked  over  them.  These  men  I  am  opposed  to.  I 
am  willing  to  take  any  fair  man  and  let  him  go  and 
let  the  interests  of  the  railroad  company  take  their 
chances  with  him;  but  when  they  pack  a  jury  I 
object,  and  I  want  a  change  of  venue. 

"There  is  a  great  deal  to  be  said  in  reference  to 
this  railroad  and  its  relations  to  the  interests  of  the 
state  and  government.  When  once  you  touch  that 
subject  it  is  almost  inexhaustible,  and  I  hardly  know 
whether  I  ought  to  touch  it,  because  I  cannot  do 
justice  to  it  in  the  time  that  would  be  allotted  to  me 


148  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

to-day,  or  that  I  ought  to  take ;  but  I  will  say  this, 
because  I  have  no  doubt  you  are  interested  in  it,  and 
I  know  that  every  one  of  you  are  interested  in  the 
good  fame  of  the  company  to  which  your  interests 
attach  you.  It  is  natural  that  you  should  be.  It  is 
on  this  question  of  government  aid.  The  entire 
amount  that  we  received  from  the  government,  when 
reduced  to  gold  coin,  as  all  that  we  received  was,  was 
not  sufficient  to  carry  this  road  over  the  mountains. 
The  balance  of  the  money  came  from  other  sources. 
It  came  from  the  credit  of  the  company,  its  bonds,  its 
earnings,  as  it  went  on,  and  the  government  has 
ample  security.  We  claim  to  be  able  to  pay  to  the 
government  every  penny  that  it  is  entitled  to.  We 
challenge  any  one  to  show  wherein  we  have  violated 
any  law.  We  have  given  to  the  government  ample 
security.  The  roads  that  we  have  built,  the  main 
feeders,  have  been  consolidated  into  the  road,  and 
instead  of  the  government  having  740  miles  of  road 
as  security,  by  the  various  consolidations  it  has  now 
about  1,600  miles.  Does  this  look  as  though  we 

•  • 

thought  of  turning  over  this  road,  of  giving  it  up,  or 
that  we  do  not  intend  to  pay  the  debts  of  the  con 
cern?  You  gentlemen  who  know  what  these  roads 
are,  and  the  country  they  have  opened  up,  and  their 
future  prospects,  I  am  sure  will  not  think  so. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  I  have  about  had  my  brief  say, 
but  I  want  to  say  this,  that  the  expenditures  of  the 
railroad  company  are  and  will  be  in  proportion  to  its 
ability — doing  justice  by  itself  and  everyone  else.  It 
desires  to  enlarge  the  shops,  and  then,  if  we  shall  have 
an  opportunity  as  we  ought,  we  will  probably  do  as 
we  then  intended  to  have  done,  build  a  large  passen 
ger  depot  upon  these  grounds — a  common  one.  We 
sought  the  opportunity  to  open  Second  street  into  a 
broad  avenue,  and  to  build  a  bridge  that  the  little  nar 
row  place  on  the  levee  might  be  relieved,  and  those 
who  travel  there  might  have  something  better  and  less 
dangerous.  It  is  probable — we  are  hopeful  at  any 


LELAND  STANFORD.  149 

rate — that  the  experiment  we  have  made  in  the  con 
struction  of  engines  will  justify  us  hereafter  in  build 
ing  all  that  is  needed  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  road. 
Though  it  is  possible  that  we  might  obtain  them  from 
the  east  cheaper  than  we  could  construct  them  here, 
we  are  willing  to  make  more  sacrifices  in  order  that  we 
might  be  able  to  extend  home  industry.  We  think  that 
we  shall,  in  a  short  time,  fill  up  enough  here  to  erect 
a  rolling  mill.  In  fact,  the  various  improvements 
and  extensions  in  this  connection  will  probably  require 
at  least  double  the  number  of  men  now  engaged  in  the 
shops.  But  we  could  hardly  do  this  if  we  are  to  be 
crippled  very  sadly ;  but  I  have  no  apprehensions  of 
that.  I  know  that  there  is  a  disposition  abroad  in 
the  state  to  harass  and  impede  the  progress  of  our 
work.  It  is  the  outgrowth,  chiefly,  of  ignorance  and 
misrepresentation.  It  is  fostered  by  demagogues  who 
use  it  as  a  hobby  to  ride  into  power.  I  know  there 
are  conspirators  who  are  banded  together  and  declare 
that  they  will  break  down  the  company,  but  they  can 
not  do  it.  We  will  follow  the  even  tenor  of  our  way, 
dealing  justly  with  men,  pursuing  a  legitimate  busi 
ness,  arid  will  trust  to  the  fairness,  intelligence,  and 
justice  of  the  honest  public.  We  are  putting  forth 
every  energy  to  build  up  this  country  and  develop 
the  resources  of  this  state.  In  this  work  we  will  suc 
ceed,  for  whoever  stands  in  the  path  of  true  progress 
will  be  crushed  as  a  pebble  that  gets  on  the  rail  before 
the  engine.  I  say  this  because  I  have  faith  in  the 
right,  because  I  have  faith  in  the  intelligence  of  the 
people  of  this  state  ;  that  they  will  stand  by  in  the 
end ;  that  at  last  they  will  know  who  are  their  friends ; 
and  they  will  see  that  no  harm  comes  to  those  who 
stand  by  them.  Now,  my  friends,  I  have  said  about 
all  the  occasion  affords.  There  is  a  great  deal  in  this 
connection  that  I  could  say  with  a  great  deal  of  sat 
isfaction,  to  myself  at  least.  I  am  glad  to  have  met 
you  here  on  this  occasion.  I  am  glad  you  wanted  to 
see  me,  and  I  regret  that  my  duties  occupy  my  mind 


150  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

so  that  I  cannot  often  come  over  to  these  shops.  I 
would  like  to  know  you  better  than  I  do.  I  would 
like  to  know  you  individually.  As  a  class  I  know 
you.  I  would  like  to  go  through  the  shops  and  see 
the  machinery  move,  for  to  me  its  busy  whirl  is  always 
interesting.  But  I  am  particularly  gratified  that  you 
asked  me  to  come,  and  I  came  with  a  great  deal  of 
pleasure.  I  thank  you  for  your  attention." 

In  the  president's  report  to  the  stockholders  of  the 
Central  Pacific  for  the  year  ending  July  1,  1879,  we 
find  a  lucid  statement  of  plan  and  execution,  of  efforts 
and  results,  of  past  achievements  and  brilliant  possi 
bilities.  "When  you  consider,"  he  says,  "the  vast- 
ness  of  our  country,  and  its  undeveloped  resources, 
you  may  anticipate  as  time  advances  a  greater  and 
greater  increase  in  traffic.  When  the  arts  and  sciences 
of  China  and  Japan  shall  be  supplemented  by  those 
of  Europe  and  America,  the  people  in  these  countries 
will  be  in  their  productive  capacity  and  in  their  readi 
ness  and  ability  to  exchange  substantially  equal  to 
the  same  number  of  Europeans  or  Americans.  No 
man  can  estimate  what  the  business  from  that  source 
will  be,  but  it  will  be  vast,  probably  far  beyond 'what 
the  most  sanguine  now  anticipates.  On  the  whole, 
the  prospects  of  your  company  are  now  as  bright  as 
ever  they  were,  and  since  the  time  when  your  road 
made  its  junction  with  the  Union  Pacific  its  future 
has  been  steadily  brightening. 

"  There  is  no  foundation  in  good  reason  for  the 
attempts  made  by  the  general  government  and  by  the 
state  to  specially  control  your  affairs.  It  is  a  ques 
tion  of  might,  and  it  is  to  your  interest  to  have  it 
determined  where  the  power  resides.  Perhaps  it  is 
not  strange  that  the  attempt  should  be  made  to  con 
trol  the  railways  of  the  state,  however  unwise  it  may 
be,  or  however  arbitrary  and  absolute  the  manner, 
because  upon  them  depends  so  largely  the  question 
of  production,  and  the  exchange  of  the  products  of 
the  labor  of  the  citizens  of  the  state.  Through  the 


LELAND   STANFORD.  151 

aid  of  the  telegraph,  the  printing  press,  and  of  steam, 
the  whole  civilized  world  is,  in  many  respects,  one 
great  neighborhood ;  and  the  only  question  to  be 
considered  in  the  matter  of  free  exchange  of  the 
products  of  the  most  extreme  portions  is  that  of 
transportation.  The  products,  the  wealth  of  the 
country,  depend  upon  the  cheapness  of  transporta 
tion.  It  is  a  problem  that  interests  all,  particularly 
the  managers  of  railroads. 

"  San  Francisco,  located  as  it  is  on  the  bay  of  San 
Francisco,  has  an  open  highway  for  her  products  to 
almost  every  market  in  the  world.  As  a  seller  she 
has  the  advantage  of  the  competition  of  purchasers, 
and  as  a  buyer  she  has  the  same  advantages  of  mar 
kets  at  which  to  buy  cheapest.  She  avails  herself  of 
competition.  She  profits  by  it,  as  people  always  do. 
She  discriminates  in  her  markets  and  in  her  routes  of 
transportation  ;  and  so  it  is  that  San  Francisco  is  a 
large,  prosperous,  commercial  city,  and  is  located 
upon  this  peninsula  because  of  its  great  natural 
advantages.  She  is  able,  because  of  her  location,  to 

•  • 

substantially  dictate  the  price  she  will  pay  to  the 
railroad  companies  for  the  transportation  of  freight 
from  ocean  to  ocean.  She  has  a  route  by  the  way  of 
Cape  Horn,  another  by  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  ;  and 
the  prices  she  pays  the  railroad  companies  are  regu 
lated  by  what  she  can  command  from  these  routes. 
In  fact,  the  railroad  company,  aside  from  the  one  class 
of  freight  which  pays  the  maximum,  has  no  power  to 
arbitrarily  fix  the  price  of  freights.  They  are  fixed 
by  circumstances  which  the  railroad  company  cannot 
control.  About  seven  per  cent  only  of  the  freight 
moved  upon  your  road  pays  the  maximum,  and  prob 
ably  the  price  to  the  consumer  is  not  increased  upon 
a  single  pound  of  this  freight  because  of  any  charges 
made  by  your  company.  In  managing  their  business 
railroad  companies  are  influenced  by  a  consideration 
of  their  own  interests,  the  same  as  all  corporations 
and  all  individuals.  When  from  any  circumstances 


152  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

the  price  of  grain  in  Europe  is  high,  the  European 
purchasers  are  in  the  market  as  competitors  with  our 
own  purchasers  for  the  commodities  of  our  state,  we 
find  the  farmer  takes  advantage  of  that  competition 
and  obtains  from  the  home  purchaser  a  price  equal  to 
that  which  the  foreign  purchaser  offers.  In  this  way 
the  farmer  sometimes  doubles  the  prices  for  the  pro 
duct  of  his  farm  that  he  would  have  received  if  it 
were  not  for  this  competition.  In  like  manner  com 
petition  is  availed  of  by  all  classes  of  people  in  all 
kinds  of  business,  and  it  is  a  factor  that  must  be  con 
sidered  and  cannot  be  denied  to  any  corporation  or 
person  except  at  the  expense  of  the  business.  When 
we  reflect  that  the  whole  question  of  production,  the 
exchange  of  products,  and  commerce  itself,  is  depend 
ent  upon  transportation,  it  seems  strange  indeed  that 
investments  which  tend  to  facilitate  and  cheapen  it 
by  offering  additional  accommodations,  or  by  increas 
ing  competition  should  be  discouraged  or  hampered, 
and  their  profits  limited,  possibly  destroyed.  It  would 
seem  that  wise  statesmanship  requires  that  a  business 
of  this  kind,  which  harms  nobody,  but  which  almost 
always  tends  largely  to  the  benefit  of  the  common 
wealth,  even  though  the  stockholders  should  fail  to 
reap  the  anticipated  profits,  should  be  encouraged, 
and,  if  regulated  at  all,  that  the  state  should  provide 
a  guarantee  against  loss  of  profits  because  of  such 
regulation.  It  would  seem  but  fair  that  if  the  state 
should  regulate  any  legitimate  business  so  as  not  to 
endanger  its  profits,  it  should  make  such  a  guarantee, 
and  such  will  be  the  conclusion  of  a  wiser  statesman 
ship  than  was  exhibited  in  the  formation  of  the  new 
constitution.  Your  company,  however,  has  little  to 
apprehend  from  the  ill-digested  and  ill-considered 
article  in  the  new  constitution,  providing  for  the  elec 
tion  of  commissioners  with  autocratic  powers,  because 
the  act  of  congress  authorizing  the  construction  of 
your  road  has  given  to  you  the  regulation  of  your 
own  freights  and  fares  up  to  a  certain  point,  as 


LELAND  STANFORD.  133 

appears  in  section  18  of  the  act  of  July  2,  1862.  If 
the  commissioners  should  be  inclined  to  rule  hardly 
against  the  railroad  companies,  the  interests  of  the 
state,  which  cannot  be  developed  fairly  except 
through  the  construction  and  operation  of  many  more 
miles  of  railroad  than  it  now  has,  will  require  that 
they  shall  practically  do  no  injury  to  existing  rail 
roads  ;  because,  if  they  do,  there  will  surely  be  no 
further  construction  of  railroads  in  this  state,  for  no 
capitalists  can  be  found  so  reckless  as  to  make  invest 
ments  where  the  gross  proceeds  are  to  be  regulated 
by  somebody  aside  from  those  who  make  the  invest 
ment  and  who  may  be  the  owners. 

"  This  question  of  transportation  is  not  settled  by 
the  new  constitution.  It  is  so  important  that  it  will 
never  be  settled  except  upon  a  just  and  wise  basis. 
This  the  new  constitution  does  not  do  ;  and  while  it 
will  in  some  respects  injure  existing  railroads,  it  will 
probably  in  a  narrow  sense  benefit  them  by  substan 
tially  guarding  against  competition  in  the  construc 
tion  of  new  and  competing  lines.  Your  railroad, 
however,  is  so  located,  being  a  trunk  line,  that  its 
interests  are  above  any  such  narrow  view,  but  will  be 
best  subserved  by  the  larger  development  of  the 
industries  and  resources  of  the  state. 

"  How  community  of  interest  becomes  a  factor 
in  the  regulation  of  freights  may  be  illustrated  by 
assuming  a  country  without  rail  roads  and  unimproved. 
It  may  be  rich  in  agricultural  and  mineral  resources. 
One  body  of  men  may  desire  to  cultivate  the  land, 
another  to  mine,  and  so  on,  and  another  may  be  will 
ing  to  furnish  means  of  transportation,  the  price  to 
be  regulated  by  what  the  commodities  can  afford  to 
pay,  and  by  what  the  carrier  can  afford  to  move  them 
for.  Thus,  if  the  product  of  the  mines  is  gold,  a  very 
high  rate  could  be  charged  on  it,  but  if  it  is  iron  or 
coal,  the  rate  must  be  so  low  as  to  permit  the  pro 
ducer  to  meet  competition  in  the  market.  The  same 
rule  applies  in  the  case  of  agricultural  products.  In 


154  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

such,  cases,  among  other  factors,  not  only  should  the 
products  of  the  country  be  taken  into  consideration, 
their  bulk,  their  value,  but  also  the  volume  of  busi 
ness  the  railroad  may  have  to  do,  and  whether  the 
freight  moves  principally  in  one  direction  or  equally 
both  ways.  The  prosperity  of  the  railroad  depends 
upon  the  prosperity  of  the  state.  The  railroad, 
therefore,  is  always  interested  in  building  up  the 
country,  as  is  the  public  in  maintaining  the  railroad, 
in  order  that  it  may  have  transportation. 

"  Our  government  is  peculiar  in  that  it  was  really 
founded  upon  a  civilized  idea,  and  has  thus  far  been 
mostly  maintained  upon  it.  Other  governments  have 
been  founded  in  force,  and  have  been  maintained  by 
force.  Our  fathers,  declaring  the  inalienable  rights 
of  man,  and  further  that  governments  were  instituted 
to  secure  him  in  those  rights,  proceeded  to  found  a 
constitution  based  upon  those  principles,  and  for  their 
maintenance,  under  which  the  one  citizen  was  to  be 
as  safe  in  his  person  and  property  as  all  others.  But 
unfortunately,  scarcely  was  the  constitution  adopted 
when  came  the  declaration  that  the  majority  should 
rule,  intensified  afterwards  in  its  application  by  that 
calamitous  declaration  that  to  the  victors  belonged 
the  spoils.  The  idea  of  the  construction  was  that  the 
majority  should  administer,  but  that  the  constitution 
should  always  rule.  As  the  idea  that  the  majority 
should  rule  has  grown,  the  protecting  force  of  the 
constitution  has  been  weakened  until,  at  last,  the 
granger  cases,  the  warehouse  cases,  the  railroad  laws 
of  the  northwest,  your  own  case  under  the  Thurman 
bill,  and  the  decisions  in  those  cases  have  been  made 
possible.  The  principles  laid  down  in  those  decisions 
seem  to  recognize  two  things — the  communistic  idea 
of  the  distribution  of  property,  and  the  absolutism  of 
control  by  a  majority  of  the  people.  Absolutism  may 
be  as  complete,  and  has  oftentimes  been  more  com 
plete  and  tyrannical  and  oppressive  under  a  republi 
can  than  under  a  monarchical  form  of  government, 


LELAND   STANFORD.  155 

and  statesmen  and  teachers  will  be  compelled  to  take 
consideration  of  the  present  tendencies  to  absolutism 
in  our  government  and  instruct  the  people  as  to  the 
true  interest  they  should  follow.  We  shall  then  soon 
return  to  the  civilized  government  of  our  fathers, 
which  gave  protection  to  the  individual  and  made 
him  truly  a  free  and  independent  citizen.  The  idea 
of  our  government  was  averse  to  the  paternal  or 
patriarchal  idea  of  guardianship  of  the  individual  in 
his  person,  and  in  the  acquisition  and  disposal  of  his 
property,  that  so  long  prevailed  in  the  formation  of 
governments.  The  intention  of  our  system  was  that 
every  man  should  be  perfectly  free  and  independent, 
subject  simply  to  police  regulations,  restraining  him 
only  from  using  his  own  to  the  detriment  of  his 
neighbor. 

"  The  changes  in  the  organic  law  in  relation  to 
railroad  corporations,  were  undoubtedly  influenced 
by  the  consideration  that  your  company  has  received 
in  some  manner  aid  from  the  county,  state,  and  national 
governments;  but  as  to  what  this  aid  was  there  is 
unquestionably  great  misapprehension.  The  fact  is, 
there  has  never  been  any  donation  made  to  your  com 
pany,  either  by  the  national,  the  state,  or  the  county 
governments.  The  counties  of  Sacramento  and  Placer 
subscribed  to  the  stock  of  your  original  company,  and 
gave  their  bonds  in  payment.  Afterward,  they  dis 
posed  of  their  stock  for  as  much  as  or  more  than  the 
bonds  were  worth  at  the  time  they  issued  them.  The 
city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  apprehensive  of 
possible  liability  for  the  debts  of  the  company  when 
its  affairs  did  not  look  very  bright,  compromised  with 
the  company,  and,  in  lieu  of  subscribing  for  stock, 
gave  four  hundred  of  her  bonds.  The  only  aid  ren 
dered  by  the  state  was,  under  contract,  to  pay  the 
interest  on  1,500  of  the  company's  bonds  of  $1,000 
each — the  company  to  pay  the  principal — and  in 
return  it  was  to  render  and  has  been  rendering  very 
important  service.  The  aid  derived  from  the  govern- 


156  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

merit  of  the  United  States  was  its  bonds  loaned,  and 
alternate  sections  of  land  given  upon  a  contract  very 
onerous  upon  your  company,  and  of  which  only  its 
possible  want  of  ability  to  construct  the  road  justified 
acceptance.  Your  company  has  not  been  enriched 
by  donations.  The  county,  state,  and  national  gov 
ernments  have,  under  their  contracts,  not  only  real 
ized  all  and  more  than  they  expected,  but  have  had 
much  the  best  of  the  bargain.  If  when  they  made 
those  contracts  they  wanted  something  else  than 
therein  provided— a  freer  exercise  of  power  of  regu 
lation,  for  instance — they  ought  to  have  so  nominated 
in  the  bond.  To  claim  and  take  what  is  not  so  nom 
inated  is  to  take  by  the  exercise  of  might,  not  of 
right.  Under  the  contract,  the  company  owes  the 
counties,  the  state,  and  the  United  States  nothing 
but  its  good  will  and  loyalty." 

Mr  Stanford  is  of  opinion  that  the  more  railroads 
are  consolidated  the  more  benefit  the  people  at  large 
will  receive.  The  effect  is  to  lower  rates.  The  state 
fixed  a  rate  but  the  companies  have  always  been 
below  it.  When  struggling  up  the  mountain,  the 
people  thought  that  fifteen  cents  a  mile  would  be  a 
fair  passenger  rate,  but  the  company  did  not  charge 
on  an  average  over  four  cents,  and  even  this  has  since 
been  considerably  reduced. 

The  tendency,  he  thinks,  has  been  to  carry  freight 
as  low  as  possible,  and  thereby  encourage  commerce. 
The  freight  has  to  be  moved,  and  if  the  company 
makes  but  a  trifle,  it  is  better  that  it  should  move  it, 
for  other  traffic  accrues  therefrom.  A  great  propor 
tion  of  the  freight  of  the  country  has  to  be  carried  at 
low  rates  or  not  at  all,  for  a  trifle  on  a  mile  will 
determine  whether  an  article  can  or  cannot  be  raised 
profitably.  Nevertheless  the  merchant  makes  no 
difference  in  the  price  of  his  goods  by  reason  of  a 
reduction  of  a  few  dollars  a  ton  on  freight.  The  bill 
introduced  in  the  legislature  of  California  reducing 
the  rates  arbitrarily  twenty-five  per  cent,  was  obnox- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  157 

ious  as  against  the  common  carrier  in  favor  of  the 
merchant  only,  and  of  no  benefit  to  the  general  con 
sumer. 

There  is,  for  instance,  a  place  on  the  California  and 
Pacific  road  called  Dixon,  where  the  freight  from 
San  Francisco  was  four  dollars  a  ton,  the  reduction 
of  twenty-five  per  cent  bringing  it  down  to  three 
dollars.  The  merchants  there  kept  a  general  assort 
ment,  groceries,  dry  goods,  boots  and  shoes,  and  the 
like.  Mr  Stanford  asked  one  of  them  to  give  him  a 
list  of  such  articles  as  he  sold  at  a  less  price  on  account 
of  the  reduction  of  freight,  and  he  could  not  name 
one.  A  dollar  on  the  ton  is  about  a  tenth  of  a  mill  on 
the  pound,  and  where  is  the  arithmetic  that  is  to 
determine  the  difference  on  the  price  to  be  charged  ? 
The  rule  of  the  carrier,  having  plenty  of  time  and 
room  to  accommodate  his  freight,  is  to  carry  every 
thing  that  offers  if  it  will  pay  the  additional  cost.  If 
there  is  anything  more,  it  may  go  toward  paying  the 
expenses  of  the  road.  The  company  has  lost  nothing 
in  moving  freight  at  a  low  rate,  for  this  policy  has 
assisted  in  developing  a  road  which  will  carry  many 
times  the  amount  of  freight  it  can  get.  Whenever  a 
quantity  of  freight  is  moved,  there  will  always  be 
some  other  movement  consequent  upon  it.  Every 
railroad  man  appreciates  these  things  and  makes  them 
a  study. 

Although  there  may  not  be  anything  made  in  the 
movement  of  certain  freight  at  a  low  price,  the  gen 
eral  development  of  the  country  is  promoted  thereby, 
and  the  road  increases  its  passenger  traffic,  while  in 
manufactured  articles  there  may  be  a  reasonable  profit. 
Such  at  least  has  been  the  history  of  the  railroad 
business  in  the  United  States.  The  charge  for  carry 
ing  has  had  a  downward  tendency,  until  to-day  goods 
are  moved  at  rates  never  dreamed  of  twenty  or  even 
ten  years  ago. 

And  here  a  word  may  be  said  in  answer  to  the  fre 
quent  complaints  as  to  discrimination  in  rates.  It  has 


158  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

been  assumed  that  if  a  railroad  can  afford  to  carry 
for  a  distance  of  five  hundred  miles,  ten  tons  of 
freight  in  a  single  car,  say  at  one  cent  a  ton  per  mile, 
it  can  afford  to  carry  the  same  freight  twenty  miles 
at  the  same  rate.  But  if  this  principle  were  adopted 
the  road  could  not  exist.  It  costs,  for  instance,  about 
twenty  cents  per  ton  to  load  a  car,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  cost  of  unloading.  Thus  for  the  shorter  distance 
the  entire  sum  received  for  freight  would  be  absorbed 
before  the  car  had  started  on  its  way,  leaving  nothing 
for  operating  and  other  expenses.  Moreover,  as  the 
smaller  way  stations  furnish  but  little  traffic,  the  car, 
when  emptied,  may  have  to  be  hauled  an  indefinite 
distance  before  it  can  earn  another  dollar.  It  is  there 
fore  evident  that  the  railroad  must  charge  more  in 
proportion  for  short  than  for  long  distances ;  for  other 
wise  the  one  would  consume  all  the  profits  realized  by 
the  other. 

Again,  as  Manager  J.  C.  Stubbs  remarks  in  a 
statement  read  before  the  Pacific  railway  commission 
in  1887, "the  rates  of  charge  on  the  valley  portions 
of  the  road  are  lower  than  on  the  mountain  portions 
The  charges  upon  lines  through  comparatively  thickly 
settled  districts  are  lower  than  those  made  through 
sparsely  settled  and  desert  territory.  Such  discrimi 
nations  are  recognized  as  necessary,  legitimate,  and 
judicious.  Where  competition  is  encountered,  rates 
necessary  to  meet  that  competition  are  made.  Where 
this  competition  is  with  water  carriers,  the  charge  is 
often  lower  for  a  longer  than  for  a  shorter  and  inter 
mediate  service ;  but  in  no  case  is  a  lower  charge 
made  for  a  longer  tha.n  for  a  shorter  haul  included  in 
the  longer,  except  where  competition  compels  it. 
There  are  not  and  have  not  been  any  discriminations 
in  fares  or  freight,  charges  having  for  their  object  or 
effect  the  prosperity  of  one  locality  or  community 
against  another  locality  or  community." 

By  all  railroads  differences  are  made  in  the  charges 
for  freight  between  large  and  small   quantities  and 


LELAND  STANFORD.  159 

between  competitive  and  non-competitive  points,  and 
in  doing  so,  railroad  men  contend  that  they  merely 
exercise  a  fair  discrimination  in  their  dealings  with 
the  public.  Just  as  the  merchant  asks  more  for  his 
goods  when  sold  by  the  pound  than  when  sold  by  the 
ton,  asks  more  when  the  supply  falls  short  than  when 
it  is  abundant,  asks  more  when  he  has  a  monopoly 
of  such  wares  as  his  customers  must  buy  of  him,  so 
the  railroad  man  takes  these  and  kindred  considera 
tions  into  account  when  fixing  his  basis  of  charges. 
And  yet  for  so  doing  the  directors  of  the  Central 
Pacific  say  that  they  have  for  years  been  made  the 
objects  of  bitter  and  general  denunciation  by  the  very 
men  who  are  guided  by  the  same  motives  in  all  their 
business  transactions. 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  mentioned  that  from 
the  spring  of  1864  to  the  close  of  1889  there  has 
never  been  a  single  year  in  which  the  affairs  of  the 
Central  and  Southern  Pacific  companies  have  not 
been  made  the  subject  of  investigation,  either  by  the 
national  government  or  by  a  state  legislature ;  yet  in 
the  reports  of  all  the  committees  appointed  for  that 
purpose  it  has  been  again  and  again  asserted  that 
they  have  in  every  way  fulfilled  their  obligations. 
While  his  associates  were  solely  irritated  at  these 
annoyances,  Governor  Stanford  was  never  known  to 
lose  his  equanimity.  "  We  are  developing  this  coun 
try,"  he  would  quietly  remark,  "  and  the  children  of 
these  men  who  to-day  are  abusing  us,  when  the  pub 
lic  shall  have  seen  wherein  they  were  mistaken,  and 
the  history  of  our  work  shall  be  written,  will  give  us 
due  credit  for  what  we  have  done.  And  the  men 
who  write  about  it  will  wonder  how  their  ancestors 
could  have  said  what  they  did  say."  This  alludes, 
of  course,  mainly  to  the  comments  of  the  press. 

Says  one  who  was  on  intimate  terms  with  all  the 
directors :  "The  people  have  had  a  wrong  impression 
of  these  men.  They  have  looked  upon  them  as  exclu 
sive,  aristocratic,  autocratic,  with  no  sympathy,  or 


160  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

anything  in  common  with  the  masses.  The  fact  is  they 
have  been  slaves  to  their  business,  slaves  to  the  great 
enterprises  they  have  founded  and  developed.  I  have 
quarrelled  with  them  on  these  very  grounds.  I  have 
told  them  that  they  ought  to  go  out  among  the 
people  more,  make  themselves  known,  and  they 
would  be  more  popular.  I  have  said  to  the  gover 
nor  :  '  Why  don't  you  say,  and  let  it  appear  in  the 
papers,  that  on  such  a  day  you  will  be  at  a  given 
place,  and  will  meet  anyone  who  wishes  to  see  you  ? 
Why  not  go  among  the  people  and  talk  with  them 
face  to  face  ?  You  sit  here  in  your  private  office, 
wearing  yourself  out  with  the  drudgery  of  your  busi 
ness  and  the  people  never  see  you,  never  hear  you 
talk,  and  they  take  you  to  be  cross  and  ugly  because 
they  don't  know  you.  If  you  would  only  come  forth 
and  talk  more  with  them,  it  would  end  this  whole 
anti-railroad  business.' '  But  while  one  of  the  most 
accessible  of  men,  willing  to  grant  anyone  a  hearing, 
and  treating  all  men  as  his  equals,  Governor  Stanford 
never  courted  popularity,  though  by  doing  so  he 

mio-ht  have  saved  himself  from  numberless  troubles 

*3 

and  vexations. 

The  heavy  load  of  care  and  anxiety  that  for  years 
has  pressed  on  Governor  Stanford  began  at  length 
to  have  their  effect.  It  was  in  the  brain  that  he  at 
first  experienced  it,  and  in  the  form  of  a  tired  feeling. 
He  had  to  give  up  reading,  which  was  of  itself  a 
great  trial,  dropping  everything  but  newspapers,  and 
of  these  he  was  soon  obliged  to  confine  himself  to 
the  editorials,  and  finally  could  only  glance  over  the 
headings  and  telegrams. 

These  were  the  signs  that  plainly  told  that  illness 
was  at  hand.  One  day  his  wife's  brother  called  at 
the  house  in  Sacramento,  and  as  he  went  away 
remarked  that  Mr  Stanford  would  surely  be  ill  it 
something  were  not  done  to  prevent  it.  This  was 
in  1878.  During  his  busiest  periods  he  would  some- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  161 

times  work  all  night,  and,  if  necessary,  continue  next 
day,  apparently  not  feeling  it.  While  the  railroad 
construction  was  going  on  he  would  sometimes  spend 
weeks  in  the  field,  camping  on  the  snow  or  sleeping 
on  the  wet  ground.  Once  on  the  summit  of  the  Sierra 
the  engine  drawing  his  train  ran  into  a  snowbank, 
so  that  horses  could  pass  over  it  on  the  frozen  crust. 
During  this  trip  seven  days  were  occupied  in  making 
less  than  one  day's  distance. 

The  strain  on  the  system  finally  broke  out  in  fever. 
The  doctors  nearly  killed  him.  At  first  he  refused 
to  see  one,  for  he  was  not  accustomed  to 'be  treated, 
and  did  not  think  much  of  medical  interference. 
But  he  was  finally  persuaded  by  Mrs  Stanford  to 
call  in  a  physician,  and  before  long  there  were  five 
of  them.  They  dosed  him  nearly  to  death  with 
quinine,  giving  him  forty-five  grains  a  day  for  seven 
weeks,  besides  arsenic  and  strychnine.  His  pulse 
rose  to  103.  When  spring  came  he  was  desirous  of 
leaving  the  city  and  retired  to  Palo  Alto.  His 
stomach  rejected  everything,  and  he  felt  that  he 
could  not  live  long  in  such  a  state.  He  resolved  he 
would  never  again  take  medicine.  Mrs  Stanford 
became  more  and  more  uneasy,  and  sent  for  the 
family  physican  from  San  Francisco  who  said  :  "  This 
is  a  clear  case  of  blood-poisoning  from  medicine." 

At  length  his  stomach  could  retain  a  little  very 
delicate  chicken-broth,  and  from  that  time  he  began 
to  improve.  In  ten  days  or  a  fortnight  he  could 
move  about,  but  his  body  felt  as  sore  and  bruised  as 
though  it  had  been  beaten.  By  and  by  he  began 
to  be  troubled  with  spasmodic  action  of  the  nerves, 
the  attacks  increasing  in  frequency  until  they  some 
times  numbered  a  hundred  in  a  night,  coming  on 
suddenly  like  cramps.  Presently  they  began  to 
decrease,  and  at  the  end  of  six  weeks  left  him 
entirely.  Thereafter  h^  improved  slowly,  and  at  the 
end  of  seven  months  from  the  time  he  was  first  taken 
ill  was  able  to  go  to  his  office  on  some  important 

C.  B.— II.     11 


162  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

occasion.  Though  his  first  serious  sickness,  it  had 
been  a  struggle  for  life,  and  he  now  resolved  on  a 
sea  voyage,  which  resulted  in  his  first  journey  to 
Europe.  He  was  in  no  condition  to  work,  nor  was 
he  absolutely  needed,  for  matters  were  now  moving 
smoothly  at  the  railroad  office.  Proceeding  to  New 
York  he  remained  there  one  winter  before  going 
abroad. 

While  at  his  office  in  New  York  one  cold,  windy 
day  it  chanced  that  the  steam  whereby  the  room 
was  heated  from  the  floor  below  was  not  turned  on. 
So  absorbed  in  business  was  he  that  he  paid  no 
attention  to  the  temperature,  and  when  ready  to  go 
home  found  himself  so  stiff  that  he  could  barely 
rise  from  his  seat.  That  evening  he  was  invited 
to  dinner  by  Secretary  Fish,  and  as  a  distinguished 
party  was  present  he  did  not  wish  to  retire  before  the 
others.  It  was  midnight  when  the  company  broke 
up,  and  before  Mr  Stanford  could  reach  his  home 
he  was  taken  seriously  ill.  The  next  day  the  nervous 
spasms  returned,  and  for  thirteen  weeks  his  friends 
were  fearful  for  his  recovery.  Indeed,  as  his  physi 
cians  afterward  informed  him,  when  they  saw  him 
start  for  Europe  a  few  days  later  they  felt  that  they 
were*bidding  him  a  last  farewell. 

And  now  let  us  turn  to  the  life  of  Leland  Stanford 
junior,  in  the  relation  of  whose  pure  and  brief  experi 
ences  is  a  moral  essay  which  mothers  may  profitably 
read  to  their  children,  one  by  whose  example  the 
rising  generation  cannot  fail  to  benefit,  for  though 
his  career  was  brief,  its  teachings  were  none  the  less 
important. 

Born  at  Sacramento,  California,  on  the  14th  of  May, 
1868,  the  name  first  given  him  was  Leland  DeWitt 
Stanford.  The  manner  and  circumstances  attending 
the  change  of  name  were  characteristic  of  the  boy. 
He  was  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  one  evening  the 
family  were  assembled  in  the  library,  at  their  house  in 


LELAND  STANFORD.  163 

San  Francisco,  Mr  Stanford  engaged  in  executing  some 
legal  instruments  in  which  it  was  necessary  that  his 
son's  name  should  be  accurately  mentioned,  and  the 
boy  deeply  absorbed  in  a  book.  While  the  attorney 
was  reading  the  papers  aloud  to  Mr  Stanford,  pre 
paratory  to  his  signing  them,  as  he  pronounced  the 
words,  Leland  DeWitt  Stanford,  the  youth  looked 
up  quickly  and  said  :  "  That  is  not  correct;  my  name 
is  Leland  Stanford  junior." 

His  father  explained  to  him  the  importance  of  the 
change,  and  as  it  was  necessary  that  his  decision 
should  be  final,  it  was  suggested  that  he  should  take 
time  in  which  to  think  further  of  it. 

"  Papa,"  he  said,  "  I  have  already  thought  about 
it,  and  I  want  your  name  exactly." 

The  coming  of  this  child,  the  first  and  last  ever 
born  to  its  parents,  was  an  event  of  no  small  import. 
The  success  of  the  father's  great  work  was  already 
assured,  and,  being  in  the  very  prime  of  life,  the 
parents  hoped  to  enjoy  this  new  blessing  in  all  its 
fullness.  And  for  a  period  of  nearly  sixteen  years 
they  did  so  enjoy  it.  It  is  something,  it  is  very  much 
that  the  happiness  of  former  years  we  cannot  be 
deprived  of,  that,  as  age  comes  on,  we  are  thus  per 
mitted  to  live  in  the  past,  as  youth  may  live  Tn  the 
future. 

Leland's  earlier  childhood  was  passed  in  Sacra 
mento,  and  was  not  devoid  of  incident.  He  had  a 
singularly  keen  and  retentive  memory,  extending  far 
back  toward  the  beginning,  and  scores  of  little  anec 
dotes  he  could  recite  with  vividness  and  precision. 
When  four  years  old  he  was  presented  with  a  pony, 
which  stumbled  at  the  stable  door  one  day  and  threw 
him  over  ito  head.  Reassured  by  his  father's  voice, 
he  once  more  mounted,  and  soon  became  quite  a 
horseman.  In  the  California  street  house  in  San 
Francisco,  whither  the  family  moved  in  1874,  was  an 
elevator,  which  one  day  fell  with  a  great  crash  from 
the  upper  floor  to  the  basement,  In  it  were  young 


164  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

Leland,  a  colored  boy,  and  a  Chinese  servant,  all  of 
whom  escaped  serious  injury.  Hearing  his  mother's 
cry  of  alarm,  Leland  called  to  her,  "Mamma,  I  am 
not  hurt."  When  in  Europe,  if  he  chanced  to  go 
forth  with  his  tutor  while  his  mother  was  absent  from 
home,  he  would  go  into  her  room  and  leave  a  note : 
''Dear  mamma,  we  have  only  gone  out  for  half  an 
hour;  don't  worry." 

Four  years  after  the  elevator  incident  he  had 
another  providential  escape,  this  time  from  a  railway 
accident,  which  left  a  deep  impression  on  his  mind. 
He  was  travelling  with  his  mother  in  the  east,  when 
one  evening,  between  Albany  and  Rochester,  the 
train  ran  off  the  track,  killing  some  and  injuring 
others.  The  wreck  of  the  cars,  the  cries  of  the 
wounded,  the  lamentations  of  the  bereaved,  and  the 
dead  fireman  carried  by,  filled  him  with  solemn  awe, 
so  that  on  reaching  their  room  at  the  hotel,  he  said : 
"  Mamma,  let  us  kneel  down  and  thank  God  for  sav 
ing  us." 

His  health  was  generally  good,  his  first  illness 
being  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  caused  by  his  play 
mates  heaping  up  damp  earth  around  him  to  his  neck. 
From  early  childhood  he  displayed  pronounced  tastes 
and  ideas.  In  his  playroom,  which  he  fitted  up  after 
his  own  fancy,  and  in  which  always  the  same  plan  of 
arrangement  was  preserved,  were  toy  locomotives  and 
trains,  telegraphic  apparatus,  telephones,  carpenter's 
tools,  and  the  like,  the  walls  being  covered  with  pict 
ures  which  he  had  colored,  and  drawings  of  ships  and 
machinery. 

His  father  used  to  say  that  he  did  not  care  for  him 
ever  to  accept  office,  unless  he  thought  he  could  do 
some  especial  good  thereby  ;  but  he  desired  that  he 
should  be  qualified  for  any  position  in  life  ;  therefore, 
he  should  have  a  thorough  education.  He  had  a 
natural  taste  for  mechanics,  and  while  still  an  infant 
displayed  a  singular  faculty  for  observation.  When 
living  in  San  Francisco  he  would  go  out  and  watch 


LELAND  STANFORD.  165 

the  ships  passing  to  and  fro  in  the  bay,  absorbed  the 
whole  day  sometimes  in  this  occupation.  He  was  not 
more  than  four  or  five  years  old  when  he  began  to 
use  his  pencil,  drawing  ships  and  other  objects  with 
remarkable  facility. 

He  used  his  hands  also  most  skilfully  in  the  carv 
ing  of  wood,  of  which  some  beautiful  specimens  have 
been  preserved.  During  the  earlier  part  of  his  last 
illness  he  drew  a  plan  of  a  boiler  as  he  saw  it,  and 
estimated  the  pressure  to  the  square  inch.  He  also 
became  greatly  interested,  as  we  shall  see,  in  antiqui 
ties  and  the  formation  of  a  museum,  which,  when 
completed,  he  intended  to  present  to  the  city  of  San 
Francisco.  During  his  visits  to  foreign  countries 
much  of  his  time  was  spent,  with  a  view  to  this  pur 
pose,  among  collections  of  curios. 

Had  he  lived,  he  would  doubtless  have  reproduced 
his  father's  strong  characteristics,  with  many  of  the 
mother's  amiable  virtues,  thus  combining  the  better 
qualities  of  both.  Between  parents  arid  child  healthy 
reciprocal  relations  were  established,  and  among  other 
principles  which  they  inculcated  was  that  the  true 
use  of  wealth  was  to  elevate  his  fellow-men,  ^id  not 
merely  to  gratify  his  own  desires.  The  highest 
aspiration  of  the  boy  was  to  be  like  them,  while  in 
his  mental  and  moral  training  they  were  desirous  that 
he  should  have  the  full  benefit  of  their  cultivation  and 
experience.  Hence  in  all  his  studies  and  develop 
ment  he  was  permitted  to  take  for  his  own  life  as  much 
as  he  should  choose  of  theirs.  He  was  admitted 
freely  to  their  society;  he  was  at  liberty  at  all  times 
to  join  in  the  conversation,  even  in  the  presence  of 
strangers.  Thus  he  was  enabled  to  attain  clear  and 
correct  ideas  of  all  those  practical  subjects  which 
afford  at  once  education  and  mental  discipline  in  a 
most  beneficial  degree. 

Likewise  he  was  devoted  to  books,  and  was  ever 
an  apt  and  intelligent  learner.  Nevertheless,  although 
the  lessons  of  his  tutor  were  never  omitted,  whether 


166  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

at  home  or  abroad,  he  met  many  distinguished  per 
sons  and  would  often  neglect  his  books  or  play  while 
listening  to  them.  Thus  was  formed,  among  many 
other  acquirements,  an  incipient  taste  in  art,  from 
meeting  such  painters  as  Meissonnier,  Bonnat,  and 
Carolus  Duran,  watching  them  at  their  work,  and 
drawing  intelligent  comparisons,  his  knowledge  of 
French,  which  he  spoke  fluently,  making  him  at  home 
in  their  studios. 

While  travelling  in  Europe  his  father  was  with  him 
much  of  the  time  and  talked  with  him  freely,  taking 
pains  to  inform  him  correctly  on  all  matters  coming 
under  their  observation.  When  unable  to  give  an 
answer  to  his  questions  he  frankly  told  him  so,  thus 
avoiding  mystification  of  the  youthful  mind.  He  also 
talked  freely  regarding  the  responsibilities  which 
would  rest  upon  the  young  man  when  he  came  to  fill 
his  father's  place,  never  attempting  to  conceal  from 
him  the  fact  that  he  would  probably  be  the  possessor 
of  great  wealth,  and  that  it  would  be  his  duty  to  take 
care  of  it,  and  use  it  wisely  for  his  fellow-men. 

Young  Leland  was  always  taught  habits  of  econ 
omy  by  his  father,  who,  however,  furnished  him  with 
the  means  of  making  purchases  for  his  museum,  in 
the  expenditure  of  which  he  displayed  no  ordinary 
business  ability.  He  was  taught  how  to  keep  accounts 
and  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  must  make  good 
use  of  the  wealth  which  would  be  left  to  him. 

His  father  used  to  talk  with  him  about  schools,  and 
proposed  that  when  he  should  have  passed  away,  his 
son  should  provide  for  the  establishment  and  aid  of 
certain  institutions,  explaining  to  him  that  whatever 
was  done  in  that  direction  was  done  for  humanity ; 
and  after  the  death  of  the  boy  the  idea  remained 
with  the  father  that  he  would  make  ample  provision 
for  some  institution  of  learning. 

Young  Leland  was  greatly  interested  in  the 
thought.  His  father  endeavored  to  keep  always 
before  his  mind  the  duties  one  man  owes  to  another, 


LELAND  STANFORD.  167 

thus  laying  broad  and  deep  the  basis  of  intellectual 
advancement,  educating  and  enlightening  and  placing 
him  upon  the  highest  moral  and  social  plane.  He  used 
to  explain  to  him  the  principles  of  honor  and  self- 
respect,  saying  that  there  is  one  person's  respect  he 
should  always  have,  and  that  was  his  own.  That  he 
must  fully  possess  under  all  circumstances,  and  with 
that  he  would  never  fail  to  have  the  respect  of  others. 
In  this  way  the  father  used  to  teach  him,  dwelling 
often  upon  the  principles  of  humanity  and  the  great 
possibilities  of  the  human  race. 

The  boy  would  drink  in  with  absorbing  interest  all 
that  his  father  would  tell  him,  and  became  imbued 
with  the  desire  above  all  to  be  well  educated,  and 
with  a  mind  trained  to  habits  of  observation.  He 
possessed  great  taste  for  archaeology  and  was  well 
acquainted  with  Egyptian  art — so  much  so  that  he 
became  the  companion  of  men  who  had  spent  the 
greater  part  of  their  lives  in  pursuing  that  branch  of 
study. 

His  father  wished  him  to  lead  an  active  life,  and 
partly  with  that  view  purchased  the  large  Vina  tract 
of  land  in  Butte  and  Tehama  counties,  so  that  he 
might  identify  himself  with  the  people  and  acquire  a 
practical  knowledge  of  agricultural  pursuits,  while  at 
the  same  time  having  a  healthful  occupation,  and  one 
which  would  develop  his  physical  powers  to  the  best 
advantage. 

Many  happy  days  the  youth  spent  at  Palo  Alto, 
whose  varied  and  charming  scenes  were  ever  dear  to 
him.  He  loved  the  country  life,  the  bright  sky  and 
soft  air,  the  woods  and  streams,  the  farm  and  the 
garden  ;  all  were  to  him  instinct  with  joy.  He  loved 
his  horses  and  dogs,  and  it  was  his  greatest  delight 
to  ride  over  the  farm,  mingle  with  the  men,  and  talk 
with  them  of  their  work,  or  with  a  pleasant  companion 
wander  into  the  redwoods  for  a  picnic.  If  in  distant 
parts  it  was  the  same.  While  at  Winter  Harbor, 
Maine,  where  the  summer  of  1878  was  spent,  he  was 


168  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

ever  found  among  the  fishermen,    eagerly  inquiring 
into  the  mysteries  of  their  craft. 

To  an  American  youth  a  two  years'  expedition 
through  Europe  comes  as  a  revelation,  opening  a  new 
world  and  inspiring  fresh  ambitions.  If  the  boy  be 
intelligent  and  observing,  such  a  journey  cannot  fail 
to  be  an  education  in  itself.  So  it  proved  to  young 
Leland  Stanford,  who  began  such  a  journey  with  his 
parents  in  1879.  Starting  forth  almost  a  child,  he 
soon  found  his  mind  filling  with  manly  ideas,  and  the 
serious  purposes  of  life  assuming  form  within  him. 
1  After  a  tour  through  Great  Britain  they  went  to 
France,  and  thence  to  Germany  and  Italy,  meeting 
everywhere  those  monuments  of  the  past  which  are 
the  milestones  of  our  civilization.  An  extract  from  his 
diary  gives  us  a  glimpse  into  his  mind  as  it  was  at 
this  time  : 

"March  21,  1881.  Up  at  eight  o'clock.  At  nine 
drove  with  Mrs  C.  and  George  to  the  Portici  station. 
Train  started  at  twenty  minutes  past  nine.  At  10:45 
arrived  at  Portici,  where  we  took  a  landau  ordered 
from  the  hotel.  While  driving  through  the  town 
counted  forty-three  beggars.  Drove  for  two  hours 
and  twenty  minutes  through  the  well-known  lava 
fields.  They  present  a  very  dreary  aspect,  though  at 
intervals  we  saw  a  pretty  piece  of  country,  with  trees, 
verdure,  and  grapevines.  At  one  o'clock  arrived 
at  the  Vesuvius  railroad.  Had  to  wait  about  twenty 
minutes  before  the  car  went  up,  and  when  we  at  last 
reached  the  upper  station  it  was  1:30.  Now  we  had 
to  climb  for  another  half  hour,  and  it  was  very  fatigu 
ing  work.  At  two  reached  the  platform  of  Mount 
Vesuvius.  Here  Mrs  C.  sat  down  and  waited,  and 
George,  I,  and  the  guide  explored.  I  asked  Mrs 
C.  to  allow  me  to  go  up  to  the  crater.  At  first  she 
refused,  but  a  lady  standing  by  heard  us  and  came  to 
my  assistance.  She  said  it  was  not  dangerous  and  I 
was  allowed  to  go.  Now  we  had  to  pass  through 
smoke  and  smell  of  sulphur — that  was  the  worst  part 


LELAXD  STANFORD.  169 

of  the  trip.  At  last  we  reached  the  foot  of  the  cra 
ter  and  ten  minutes  later  we  had  mounted  100  feet 
higher  and  stood  at  the  mouth  of  Vesuvius.  But 
only  for  a  moment.  Our  guide  would  not  let  us  stay ; 
he  said  it  was  dangerous,  and  we  could  see  that  our 
selves.  From  time  to  time  big  stones  were  thrown 
up,  and  the  smoke  was  so  hot  that  we  could  scarcely 
stand  in  it.  Found  Mrs  C.  awaiting  our  return  with 
impatience ;  we  had  heard  her  calling  my  name  a 
long  while  before  she  could  have  noticed  me.  As 
soon  as  we  arrived  at  the  lower  station  I  sent  a  tele 
gram  to  mamma  that  we  all  were  safe.  Ten  minutes 
afterward  we  were  on  our  way  home  ;  came  in  at  6:30 
o'clock,  all  feeling  very  tired,  and  soon  went  to  bed." 
Thus  the  youth  developed  in  mind  and  heart,  his 
affection  for  his  parents  being  unbounded.  When  he 
was  about  twelve  years  old  the  family,  which  was 
spending  the  winter  at  Nice,  removed  to  Rome  on 
account  of  the  cold,  and  with  his  mother  he  attended 
one  of  the  pope's  private  audiences.  Soon  afterward 
Mrs  Stanford  was  taken  ill  and  confined  to  her  bed. 
One  morning  Leland  went  out  alone,  and  when  he 
came  home  he  said,  with  a  serious  look,  "  Mother,  I 
feel  now  that  you  are  going  to  get  well."  "  Why  so, 
my  child?"  "Because  I  have  been  up  all  the  holy 
steps  this  morning  on  my  knees,  and  on  every  step  I 
said  a  prayer,  and  when  I  reached  the  top  I  felt  sure 
that  you  were  going  to  get  well."  It  was  at  once  a 
revelation  and  a  vision  to  the  mother.  There  stood 
the  boy,  his  face  radiant  as  the  sunshine,  and  had  an 
angel  dropped  from  heaven  as  the  bearer  of  glad  tid 
ings,  it  could  not  so  have  thrilled  this  mother's  heart ! 

o     ' 

All  this  while,  with  the  more  esthetic  tastes,  was 
forming  likewise  a  most  practical  mind,  in  these 
respects,  as  in  many  others,  the  son  being  the  coun 
terpart  of  the  father.  The  faculty  of  construction  he 
seemed  to  inherit  in  a  remarkable  degree.  His  talent 
for  detail  was  no  less  than  his  general  comprehensive 
ness,  the  two,  with  experience  and  application,  which 


170  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

he  surely  would  have  had,  constituting  the  highest 
order  of  executive  ability.  He  would  criticise  the 
great  painters,  their  works  and  character,  with  no 
more  egotism  or  self-consciousness  than  when  offering 
suggestions  to  the  man  digging  a  ditch,  as  to  how  he 
could  do  it  easier  or  better.  If  he  saw  macaroni 
made,  or  glass  blown,  he  could  not  rest  satisfied 
without  having  the  process  explained,  with  the  cost 
of  manufacture,  wages  paid,  and  hours  of  labor. 

All  kinds  of  machinery,  especially  whatever  related 
to  railways,  interested  him  greatly.  Trains  and 
engines  were  the  first  objects  of  infantile  notice,  the 
playthings  of  his  childhood,  the  study  of  his  youth. 
He  was  but  about  a  year  old  when,  in  1869,  on  the 
completion  of  the  overland  railway,  he  made  his  first 
journey  across  the  continent.  Before  the  completion 
of  his  eighth  year  he  had  visited  the  railroad  shops 
at  Sacramento,  and  ever  afterward  railway  construc 
tion  and  management  seemed  to  be  a  passion  with 
him.  He  learned  all  about  the  steam-engine,  and 
labor-aiding  and  propelling  machinery.  At  twelve 
he  constructed  with  his  own  hands  a  track  at  Palo 
Alto  400  feet  long.  Whenever  he  made  a  railway 
journey,  in  Europe  or  America,  all  his  faculties  of 
observation  were  on  the  alert;  and  he  was  ever  com 
paring  the  railroad  systems  of  the  several  countries 
through  which  he  passed.  Thus  of  the  departure  of 
an  Italian  train  he  said  :  "  First  a  bell  rings  :  then  a 
horn  is  sounded ;  then  the  station-master  blows  a 
policeman's  whistle ;  then  the  engine  whistles  three 
times;  the  conductor  cries  out  ' Partens ! '  and  at  last, 
if  nothing  has  been  forgotten,  the  train  starts." 

On  the  bridge  over  the  New  York  Central  railway 
station  he  would  stand  for  an  hour  at  a  time  watching 
the  movements  of  the  engines  below.  In  mechanical 
or  agricultural  exhibitions  he  would  become  greatly 
absorbed,  forgetting  himself  and  all  around  him  in 
his  deep  abstraction  over  cunning  contrivance.  A 
patent  railway  car,  which  the  inventor  claimed  could 


LELAND   STANFORD.  171 

not  be  telescoped,  being  shown  to  him,  he  soon 
pointed  out  certain  weak  points  which  threw  the  pro 
prietor  into  confusion.  But  his  passion  for  the  prac 
tical  did  not  interfere  with  his  love  of  nature  and  of 
art.  In  Switzerland,  where  his  parents  spent  the 
summer  of  1881,  he  enjoyed  the  pleasures  of  moun 
tain  life  as  keenly  as  if  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a 
mechanical  contrivance  in  the  world. 

Mr  Stanford's  brother  used  to  remark  of  him, 
"He  is  a  very  acute  observer,"  and  again,  "Your 
boy  is  older  in  ideas  than  many  men  of  forty ;  he 
does  not  talk  like  a  boy  at  all."  This  came  from  his 
being  associated  with  prominent  men,  whose  charac 
teristics  he  would  narrowly  observe ;  and  also  from 
not  being  thrown  into  the  company  of  other  children 
to  anv  ^reat  extent.  It  was  his  father's  plan  that  he 

v  t\ 

should  always  have  three  or  four  professors,  each  one 
to  instruct  him  in  special  branches  of  knowledge,  and 
so  arranged  as  always  to  have  one  of  these  professors 
at  table  with  them,  so  that  the  boy  would  grow  up 
under  the  influence  of  mature  minds,  which  would 
enlarge  and  strengthen  his  own. 

His  appreciation  of  art,  for  so  young  a  connoisseur, 
was  no  less  remarkable  than  his  knowledge  of  tech 
nique.  The  plethora  of  St.  Sebastians  and  Suzan- 
nahs,  of  John  Baptist  heads  and  Eves  in  Eden,  in  all 
the  galleries  of  Europe,  tired  and  disgusted  him 
before  he  was  half  through  his  tour.  On  the  other 
hand,  his  admiration  for  such  statues  as  Ribera's 
John  the  Baptist,  and  the  two  heads  by  Denner  in 
the  Belvedere  palace  at  Vienna,  displayed  a  full 
appreciation  of  the  truly  beautiful  in  art.  Michael 
Angelo's  Moses,  though  large  and  heroic,  he  did  not 
like,  nor  the  statues  of  Castor  and  Pollux ;  but  for 
the  Farnese  Bull  he  was  full  of  admiration.  Of 
monuments  he  was  most  struck  by  the  Albert  memo 
rial  in  London,  and  the  Lion  of  Lucerne. 

One  day  at  Pompeii  his  mother  placed  in  his  hand 
a  piece  of  mosaic,  saying,  "  Let  this  be  the  nucleus  of 


172  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

your  museum."  It  was  as  seed  sown  in  good  ground. 
A  taste  was  thus  implanted  for  rare  and  antique 
things,  which  increased  and  brought  forth  fruit  to 
the  day  of  his  death,  and  before  the  end  of  his  first 
visit  to  Europe  his  collection  had  reached  no  mean 
proportions.  He  also  became  deeply  interested  in 
antique  glass,  of  which  he  made  a  valuable  collection. 

Returning  from  his  first  European  trip,  the  sum 
mer  of  1882  was  spent  in  his  native  California,  the 
land  which  of  all  others  he  loved  best.  Out-of-door 
life  was  here  an  elysium  to  him,  while  within  walls 
was  the  work  of  classifying  and  arranging  his  collec 
tion,  in  which  he  became  deeply  absorbed.  The 
autumn  and  winter  following  were  spent  in  New 
York,  and  though  he  found  there  much  that  was 
instructive  and  amusing,  the  restraints  of  city  life 
were  not  much  to  his  liking.  While  his  studies  were 
by  no  means  neglected,  much  of  his  time  was  passed 
in  watching  the  boilermakers  or  at  the  depots,  where 
he  would  spend  many  an  hour  that  might  have  been 
given  to  play,  to  driving  around  in  sleigh  or  carriage, 
or  to  skating  in  the  park. 

Meanwhile  his  parents  were  both  of  them  far  from 
well,  and  had  been  advised  by  their  physicians  to  take 
a  sea  voyage.  On  the  26th  of  May  1883,  therefore, 
they  all  sailed  from  New  York  in  the  Germanic,  reach 
ing  London  the  4th  of  June  on  this  second  European 
trip.  The  health  of  Mr  Stanford  improved  from  the 
first,  but  Mrs  Stanford  grew  worse,  and  became  indeed 
seriously  ill.  At  this  time  the  boy  Leland  was  to 
her  as  a  ministering  angel.  "  Here,"  says  his  tutor, 
Mr  Nash,  to  whose  excellent  biography  I  am  indebted 
for  the  materials  of  this  sketch,  "  care  and  anxiety 
cast  their  first  shadows  across  his  adolescent  path. 
He  would  sit  in  the  darkened  sick  room,  brightening 
it  with  his  young  spirits,  and  cheering  the  invalid 
with  descriptions  of  all  he  was  seeing  in  the  great 
city.  A  good  son  cannot  be  a  very  bad  man  ;  for  the 
love  and  reverence  he  pays  his  mother  approach  very 


LELAXD  STANFORD.  173 

nearly  to  that  love  and  reverence  we  owe  to  the 
deity.  A  man's  best  instincts  come  to  the  surface 
when  he  is  with  his  mother ;  he  would  keep  all  his 
weaknesses  out  of  her  sight.  But  boys,  from  the 
very  exuberance  of  health  and  spirits,  are  generally 
careless,  and  forget  the  great  power  they  possess,  that 
of  making  a  mother's  heart  glad  or  heavy.  Leland, 
however,  was  always  thinking  of  his  mother.  In  the 
midst  of  his  pleasures  he  would  stop  to  buy  her  a  few 
flowers  or  some  choice  fruit,  was  always  punctual  in 
his  return  home  to  save  her  anxiety,  and  when  she 
was  ill  he  took  a  daughter's  part  rather  than  that  of 
a  son.  As  soon  as  she  was  well  enough  to  go  out, 
how  proud  he  was  to  give  her  his  arm  and  be  her 
escort  I  How  careful  he  would  be  of  his  personal 
appearance  on  these  occasions ;  for  though  young 
ladies'  company  and  the  conventionalities  of  society 
had  no  attractions  for  him,  toward  his  mother  he 
would  display  the  most  attentive  gallantry.  Ah ! 
here  was  the  reward  for  the  long,  sleepless  nights  of 
watching,  for  the  patience  with  infant  querulousness, 
for  untiring  nursing ;  here  was  the  mother's  harvest 
bearing  fruit  in  its  season.  His  affection  for  his 
father  was  of  another  order.  It  was  made  up  of  rev 
erence,  respect,  and  obedience.  He  looked  up  to  his 
father  with  admiration,  and  respected  his  decisions 
as  law ;  yet  with  all  this  he  never  surrendered  his 
right  to  his  own  individual  opinion.  We  have  shown 
that  he  formed  these  opinions  quite  independently, 
and  he  would  uphold  them  sturdily,  surrendering  to 
no  one's  arguments  until  fully  satisfied  that  he  was 
mistaken.  He  was  constantly  at  his  father's  elbow 
for  counsel  and  information,  but  his  conclusions  and 
ideas  were  his  own.  He  was  glad  to  follow  his  parent's 
advice,  but  he  would  do  his  thinking  for  himself." 

From  Claridge's  hotel,  London,  on  the  2d  of  July 
1883,  he  wrote  his  aunt:  "  Papa  is  a  little  better, 
and  mamma's  eyes  are  improving.  She  has  been  out 
driving  twice  with  one  eye  uncovered.  Mamma  has 


174  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

promised  to  get  me  a  double  tricycle  for  Menlo. 
They  are  very  handy,  and  only  half  as  hard  to  work 
as  single  ones.  I  must  have  the  pedals  arranged  on 
one  side  for  short  legs,  and  on  the  other  for  long  ones. 
Every  evening  we  can  go  to  the  station  at  Menlo. 
It  will  be  very  nice  over  the  hard  road,  but  less  so  on 
the  gravel.  I  am  also  to  have  a  complete  machine- 
shop,  and  an  engine  strong  enough  to  run  it.  The 
engine  will  probably  be  of  three  or  four  horse-power, 
quite  a  large  machine." 

A  week  later  he  writes  his  uncle  :  "I  should  like 
you  to  find  out  whether  my  engine  and  boiler  were 
sent  from  New  York,  and  if  they  have  arrived  please 
send  them  to  the  city  house  ;  but  if  not,  let  Mr  Stymus 
store  them  in  New  York  till  I  come  back.  Please 
have  my  guns  taken  to  Liddle  and  Kaeding's,  on 
Washington  street,  and  in  the  country  see  that  my 
bicycle  is  kept  in  a  very  dry  place,  and  that  my  boat 
is  left  in  the  loft  over  the  stable.  Tell  me  how  my 
horses  are.  I  hope  they  are  not  being  used  much, 
and  not  at  all  at  the  stock  farm.  Ask  Mrs  Johnson 
to  see  that  Arka  greases  all  the  steel  in  my  museum, 
except  the  figure  on  horseback  and  the  two  pieces 
that  go  with  it ;  these  two  I  should  like  to  have  put 
in  my  own  room." 

A  trip  to  eastern  Europe  had  been  long  under  con 
sideration,  and  it  was  now  determined  that,  as  soon 
as  Mrs  Stanford's  health  would  permit,  it  should  be 
undertaken.  After  some  two  months'  sojourn  in 
England,  therefore,  the  party  proceeded  en  route  to 
Paris,  where  Leland  soon  became  well  known  as  a 
collector  of  antiquities. 

"  For  Egypt,  its  people,  its  history,  and  its  monu 
ments,"  says  Mr  Nash,  "  he  felt  the  greatest  interest 
ever  since  his  education  began  with  the  Rosetta 
stone.  A  succession  of  visits  to  the  Louvre  museum 
in  1883,  and  the  perusal  of  accounts  of  Mariette's  and 
Champollion's  work  added  fuel  to  his  ambition.  Very 
soon  he  was  gathering  here  and  there  the  foundation 


LELAND  STANFORD.  175 

of  a  rare  collection  of  Egyptian  bronzes  and  antiqui 
ties.  Nor  was  it  made  idly  as  the  diversion  of  a 
moment,  for,  while  employed  in  its  formation,  there 
was  much  difficult  study  to  be  undertaken.  There 
were  researches  to  be  made  and  works  to  be  con 
sulted.  Many  an  afternoon  was  spent  in  the  Egyptian 
wing  of  the  Louvre,  note-book  and  pencil  in  hand, 
copying  hieroglyphics  on  sarcophagi  and  scarbaei. 
Many  an  evening  was  devoted  to  the  study  of  works 
on  Egyptian  inscriptions.  So  well  was  the  time 
employed,  so  apt  was  the  scholar,  that  in  a  very  few 
months  Leland  Stanford  could  read  many  of  the 
signets  of  the  Pharaohs,  knew  the  signs  of  the  different 
dynasties,  and  had  acquired  a  very  fair  knowledge  of 
the  attributes  of  Osiris,  Horus,  Anubis,  and  the  whole 
complicated  mythology  of  Egypt." 

Whenever  he  visited  a  museum  he  would  make  a 
careful  study  of  what  he  saw  there,  and  thus  learned 
how  to  make  his  purchases  to  the  best  advantage. 
During  his  travels  he  had  many  curiosities  given  him, 
and  many  kinds  of  stones,which, while  in  Rome,  he  had 
cut  and  polished,  and  made  into  a  mosaic  table,  with 
defined  sections,  one  marked  England,  and  others 
Scotland,  Ireland,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  etc.,  from 
the  name  of  the  country  to  which  they  belonged. 
This  table  is  now  in  his  museum  at  Palo  Alto. 

During  this  second  trip  to  Europe  his  collection 
became  quite  important,  and  in  this  work  he  was 
encouraged  by  his  father,  who  saw  that  he  already 
understood  the  value  of  money.  By  this  time  he 
had  become  ambitious  and  aspired  to  create  the 
museum,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  he  intended  to  pre 
sent  to  the  city  of  San  Francisco.  Everything  that 
he  purchased  was  with  reference  to  science.  Before 
this  he  simply  bought  to  please  himself,  but  now  he 
would  buy  only  that  which  would  please  the  scien 
tists.  He  made  the  acquaintance  of  many  archaeolo 
gists,  among  them  a  Frenchman  in  the  museum  of  the 
Louvre,  who  took  a  great  interest  in  him,  and  had  a 


176  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

fondness  for  Egyptian  archaeology.  This  young  man 
was  afterward  appointed  curate  of  the  museum  of 
Boulaq,  at  Cairo,  the  finest  Egyptian  museum  in  the 
world. 

In  order  to  make  a  scientific,  and  at  the  same  time 
an  interesting  museum,  it  is  necessary  to  have  a  com 
plete  collection  as  far  as  possible  ;  that  is,  not  to 
spend  money  in  miscellaneous  objects  which  have  no 
real  value,  but  to  determine  what  collections  you 
intend  to  have,  and  then  spend  your  money  in  that 
direction.  With  this  view,  Leland  thought  of  sev 
eral  collections  ;  one  was  Egyptian  antiquity,  another 
Greek  glass  and  pottery ;  a  third,  the  American 
stone  age  ;  and,  of  course,  there  were  many  collat 
eral  collections.  He  found  that  money  could  be  spent 
to  better  advantage  when  used  in  one  direction.  It 
was  afterward  determined  to  make  these  collections 
as  complete  as  possible,  finish  them  exactly  as  he  had 
begun  them,  and  have  them  placed  in  the  university. 

He  gathered  a  large  variety  of  miscellaneous 
objects  from  famous  battle-fields.  He  had  also  a  large 
collection  from  the  siege  of  Paris,  from  the  Prussians 
and  the  Commune,  pieces  of  shell,  paper  money,  and 
a  miscellaneous  assortment  of  which  no  one  had  any 
idea,  not  even  his  parents.  After  returning  to  San 
Francisco  he  spent  several  weeks  in  taking  these 
things  out  and  storing  them  in  the  upper  rooms  of  the 
house,  cataloguing  them,  having  them  classified  and 
distributed  in  glass  cases  made  for  them,  and  arrang 
ing  the  cases  systematically  about  the  walls  of  sev 
eral  large  rooms  set  apart  for  the  purpose.  Then  his 
father  was  called  in  to  see  them  ;  and  how  his  young 
heart  bounded  as  he  saw  on  that  beloved  face  the 
look  of  glad  surprise,  and  heard  him  say,  "  I  had  no 
idea  you  had  anything  like  this,  my  boy."  The 
rooms  long  remained  just  as  he  left  them,  the  inten 
tion  being  to  reproduce  the  collection  at  Palo  Alto 
when  the  museum  building  was  finished. 

Part  of  August  was  spent  at  Havre,  where  it  was 


LELAND  STANFORD.  177 

thought  the  sea  air  would  be  beneficial  to  Mrs  Stanford. 
Here  Leland  greatly  enjoyed  driving  about  the  coun 
try  with  his  mother,  and  watching  the  shipping  in 
the  harbor. 

Writing  Miss  Hull  from  Paris,  September  2,  1883, 
he  says:  "  We  have  be,en  staying  for  the  last  three 
weeks  in  Havre,  where  the  bathing  is  delightful.  I 
went  in  swimming  every  day,  and  tried  to  imitate 
Captain  Webb.  I  am  getting  on  pretty  well  with  my 
lessons,  but  live  in  hopes  of  Mr  Nash  visiting  his 
family  for  a  fortnight.  Papa  goes  to  Hamburg  on 
the  6th  of  this  month.  I  wrote  to  him  every  day. 
Mamma  is  better.  .  .  .  I  hear  that  my  dog  Toots 
has  developed  vagabond  propensities  in  California, 
under  the  tutorship  of  my  other  dogs,  so  much  so 
that  he  has  to  be  tied  up  by  the  neck,  and  causes 
Sing,  who  has  charge  of  him,  great  anxiety." 

A  portion  of  the  autumn  was  passed  in  Germany, 
where  Leland  watched  the  manreuvres  of  the  army 
with  great  interest,  though  never  missing  an  oppor 
tunity  of  adding  to  his  collection.  At  an  exhibition 
held  at  Frankfort  was  an  iron-shod  piece  of  timber, 
said  to  have  been  one  of  the  piles  of  Caesar's  bridge, 
rescued  from  the  bed  of  the  Rhine.  This,  with  some 
difficulty,  he  succeeded  in  purchasing  and  sending  to 
San  Francisco.  A  month  later,  in  company  with  his 
father,  he  visited  the  wine  cellars  of  Bordeaux,  giv 
ing  his  impressions  in  a  letter  to  his  uncle,  dated 
Paris,  October  17th:  "We  have  just  returned  from 
Bordeaux,  where  we  had  been  to  see  the  wine-mak 
ing.  We  spent  one  day  visiting  Chateau  Lafitte  and 
Chateau  Larose ;  the  vintage  was  just  over,  but  we 
saw  the  cellars.  The  Lafitte  vineyard,  750  acres  in 
size,  was  recently  sold  to  Baron  Rothschild,  of  Paris, 
for  over  $7,000  an  acre.  The  labor  on  this  vineyard 
is  about  one  man  and  one-half  to  an  acre.  The  report 
that  the  Lafitte  vines  had  been  destroyed  by  phyl 
loxera  is  not  correct ;  they  are,  in  fact,  in  a  thrifty 
condition,  and  their  net  income  varies  from  three  to 

C.  B.— II.     12 


178  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

four  hundred  thousand  dollars  per  annum.  Yester 
day  papa  visited  the  Chateau  Yquem  vineyard,  where 
the  vintage  was  going  on." 

Referring  to  his  intellectual  progress  and  to  the 
period  of  1883-4,  Mr  Nash  remarks:  "His  studies, 
which  had  been  continuous  and  regular  through  all 
his  travelling,  were  now  assuming  proportions  consist 
ent  with  his  years.  It  is  true,  as  has  been  said,  that 
we  can  best  discern  a  boy's  character  by  watching 
him  at  play;  is  it  not  also  true  that  by  watching  him 
at  his  books  we  can  best  judge  of  his  future?  Study 
is  as  irksome  for  most  boys  as  work  for  work's  sake 
is  to  most  men.  Leland  had  the  tastes  of  his  age, 
its  likes  and  dislikes.  Being  full  of  life  and  health, 
he  did  not  prefer  his  Latin  grammar  to  his  gun,  or 
his  algebra  to  his  driving-team ;  but  when  the  time 
came  for  Latin  or  algebra,  gun  and  team  were  man 
fully  forgotten.  His  pastimes  never  interfered  with 
his  studies ;  in  fact,  the  two  were  so  often  so  nearly 
connected  as  to  merge  into  one.  History  fostered  his 
love  for  antiquities,  and  his  taste  for  machinery 
encouraged  him  to  apply  himself  to  mathematics.  So 
history  and  mathematics  became  his  favorite  studies, 
and  as  he  grew  in  years  his  proficiency  in  these  two 
branches  grew  also  and  promised  much  in  the  future. 
None  can  draw  the  veil  from  what  might  have  been ; 
but  we  know  that  the  crops  will  be  of  the  same  kind 
as  the  seed ;  and  we  have  seen  mathematics  give  the 
world  its  great  inventors  and  history  give  it  its  prom 
inent  statesmen.  The  facility  with  which  the  boy 
mastered  modern  languages  was  frequently  commented 
upon,  but  few  knew  his  quickness  and  aptness  in 
mathematics.  From  the  day  when  he  first  opened  his 
arithmetic  to  the  day  when  he  closed  his  algebra 
upon  his  last  equation  Leland  met  with  no  difficulties. 
In  his  classical  studies  his  accurate  memory  stood 
him  in  good  stead.  He  not  only  had  the  faculty  of 
retaining,  down  to  the  minutest  detail,  all  that  he 
read,  but  he  would  be  taught.  All  that  his  teachers 


LELAND  STANFORD.  179 

iacl  in  them  he  would  have  out  of  them.     Often  the 
text-book  disappointed    him ;    its  explanations  were 
lot  clear  enough ;  he  was  not  satisfied  with  mere 
icts,  he  wanted  causei  and  reasons.     And  to  keep 
ice  with   his  active   mind,  his  teachers  had  them- 
?lves  to  keep  ever  active.     One   of  his  professors 
•as  heard  to  say,  '  I  came  to  teach  him,  but  it  is  he 

o  teaches  me.' ' 

His  museum  taught  him  to  trace  the  development 
>f  things  back  to  their  source,  and  he  claimed,  as  Mr 
fash  has  said,  that  to  the  Rosetta  stone  he  was 
indebted  for  his  ancient  history,  as  it  was  this  that 
irst  awakened  his  curiosity.  He  was  very  fond  of 
listening  to  music,  but  never  cared  to  learn  it,  saying, 
' '  Mamma,  you  are  spoiling  a  good  mechanic  hi  trying 

make  me  a  musician." 

He  was  now  a  tall  boy  for  his  age,  and  he  was  a 
rery  handsome  boy.     He  grew  rapidly,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  last  sickness  was  five  feet  eleven  inches  in 
leight.     He  was  exceedingly  active,  fond  of  out-door 
life,  and  as  this  is  what  his  father  desired,  his  tutor 
ras   instructed   to    devote    plenty  of   time  to  such 
studies  as  botany,  mineralogy,  etc.  He  was  proficient 
in  field  sports,  a  good   rider  and  a  first-class  shot. 
~hen  he  came  home  from  Europe  the  first  time  his 
ither  allowed  him  to  use  a  rifle  and  shotgun,  and  of 
this  privilege,  with  his  horse  and  dogs  for  companions, 
'ie  often  availed  himself,  adorning  one  of  his  rooms 
rith  what  he  called  his  trophies  of  the  chase. 

In  facial  expression  he  resembled  both  his  father 
and  mother,  though  perhaps  there  was  more  of  the 
mother  in  his  features;  he  had  the  father's  mouth, 
but  the  mother's  upper  face  and  eyes  and  formation 
of  head.  He  combined  the  dispositions  of  both, 
having  the  father's  strong  will  and  keen  observation, 
which  left  nothing  unnoticed,  but  combining  with 
this  the  mother's  affectionate  disposition.  For 
instance,  when  training  or  disciplining  him,  it  was 
always  easier  to  do  so  through  his  mother's  influence 


180  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

and  through  an  appeal  to  his  affections  than  to 
endeavor  to  coerce  him.  This  latter  course,  which, 
indeed,  was  never  tried,  would  certainly  have  failed. 
Coercion  would  have  roused  the  strong  will  inherited 
from  his  father.  His  character,  of  course,  showed 
the  greatest  development  during  the  last  two  or  three 
years  of  his  life  ;  before  that  it  is  well  known  what 
young  boys  are  liable  to  be  when,  as  in  his  case,  the 
character  is  strongly  marked  from  infancy.  His 
tastes  were  more  indicative  than  anything  else  of 
his  character,  which  was  moulded  largely  by  close 
intercourse  with  his  parents.  Often  we  have  noticed 
people  placing  their  children  in  the  hands  of  a  nurse, 
and  probably  not  seeing  them  more  than  twice  a  day. 
This,  certainly,  was  not  Mrs  Stanford's  custom. 

It  was  exceedingly  interesting  to  watch  the  growth 
of  the  mind  in  so  apt  and  intelligent  a  scholar.  As 
there  is  no  more  tiresome  work  than  teaching  a  dull 
pupil,  so  there  are  few  more  interesting  tasks  than 
instructing  a  bright  one.  The  teacher  sees  his 
knowledge  reproduced  in  the  pupil,  and  in  Leland's 
case,  with  many  new  ideas  of  his  own  added.  Every 
one  was  surprised  at  his  rapid  progress.  One  day, 
after  Mr  Nash  had  been  with  him  for  two  years  and 
a  half,  he  told  the  boy's  father  that  if  Leland  con 
tinued  to  progress  so  quickly,  he  would  soon  acquire 
all  the  knowledge  he  had  to  impart,  and  that  it  would 
be  necessary  to  employ  specialists  to  teach  him.  He 
would  need  a  special  mathematician  and  a  professor 
of  botany,  that  he  might  keep  pace  with  his  own 
intelligence.  This  was  when  he  was  but  fifteen  years 
of  age. 

The  bent  of  his  mind  was  toward  mathematics  and 
machinery,  as  I  have  said.  To  illustrate  :  while  in 
New  York,  and  when  but  thirteen  years  old,  he  com 
pleted  a  little  stationary  engine  entirely  by  himself 
It  had  a  cylinder,  perhaps  eight  inches  in  diameter, 
and  worked  to  perfection.  The  castings  were  made 
from  his  own  drawings,  and  he  put  all  the  parts 


LELAND  STANFORD.  181 

together,  running  the  engine  by  the  steam  which  was 

o  o  o  •/ 

used  to  heat  the  house.  He  was  well  acquainted 
with  everything  connected  with  engines  and  railroad 
ing,  and  had  he  remained  in  the  body  he  would  have 
probably  become  one  of  the  foremost  railroad  men  of 
the  age.  He  would  often  get  off  the  train  and  talk 
with  the  engineers  about  the  different  parts  of  the 
engine,  would  ask  if  certain  things  were  not  the  best, 
and  if  certain  improvements  could  not  be  made.  The 
engineers  would  look  at  him  in  astonishment  and 

i^ 

inquire,  "  Who  is  that  boy  who  comes  around  and 
seems  to  know  so  much  about  an  engine?"  When 
they  were  told  probably  they  were  not  surprised. 
Several  times  when  on  special  trains  he  was  allowed 
to  ride  in  the  cab  and  run  the  engine  for  twenty  or 
thirty  miles,  though  of  course  with  the  engineer  at 
his  side. 

Like  his  father,  he  required  a  reason  for  everything, 
and  would  take  nothing  for  granted.  When  study 
ing  Latin,  he  wished  to  know  why  this  tense  was 
called  the  perfect  and  that  one  the  imperfect,  and  so 
on.  The  consequence  was  that  before  he  began  to 
learn  the  grammar  his  tutor  had  to  explain  the  whole 
system,  what  it  was,  and  why  it  was  necessary  to 
learn  Latin  grammar.  Thus  he  received  a  very  com 
plete  education  on  the  subject  in  hand,  because  he 
knew  the  foundation,  and  would  ask  questions  until 
he  understood  it  thoroughly. 

It  was  on  a  bright  November  morning  in  1883 
that  the  Stanfords  set  out  from  the  Hotel  Bristol,  in 
Paris,  for  their  visit  to  the  classic  East.  Proceeding 
leisurely  down  to  Marseilles,  and  stopping  at  Lyons 
to  visit  the  silk-weavers,  they  passed  on  to  Nice, 
where  they  spent  a  fortnight,  and  then  to  Venice 
and  Vienna.  Amid  all  these  varied  scenes  in  which 
there  was  so  much  to  interest  and  amuse,  the  boy 
was  supremely  happy.  The  Marseilles  museum,  and 
also  the  rooms  of  a  private  collector,  drew  from 
him  his  warmest  admiration.  It  was  here  he  noticed 


182  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

that  on  the  oldest  crucifixes  the  Christ  was  repre 
sented  as  tied,  not  nailed,  to  the  cross ;  while  at 
Venice  he  was  not  slow  to  observe  the  ebb  and  flow 
of  water  in  the  canal,  though  he  had  been  taught, 
that  the  Mediterranean  has  no  tides. 

To  his  aunt  he  writes  from  Vienna,  December 
25th  :  "I  wish  you  and  Uncle  Ariel  a  merry  Christ 
mas  and  a  happy  New  Year.  It  looks  like  Christ 
mas  here,  for  it  is  snowing  pretty  hard.  We  were 
very  busy  sight-seeing  in  Lyons,  Marseilles,  Aries, 
Genoa,  Venice,  and  we  have  been  here.  In  Lyons 
we  visited  the  great  silk  houses.  These  are  about 
six  stories  high,  and  are  let  out  in  rooms,  where  each 
man  owns  his  own  loom  and  makes  as  much  velvet 
or  silk  as  he  can.  The  men  can  do  nothing  alone,  as 
the  silk  is  brought  to  them  by  a  contractor,  who  pays 
them  $1.20  a  day  for  weaving  it.  At  Aries  we  saw 

«/  O 

some  very  interesting  Roman  ruins;  at  Marseilles, 
fine  picture  galleries  and  a  good  museum;  at  Genoa 
the  same,  arid  at  Venice  the  palaces.  We  are  going 
on  to  Constantinople,  Athens,  Rome,  and  so  back  to 
Paris.  I  will  write  you  another  letter  from  Constan 
tinople  and  let  you  know  about  the  wily  Turk.  I 
expect  to  get  a  great  many  things  for  my  museum. 
I  am  now  collecting  Egyptian,  Greek,  and  Roman 
antiquities." 

The  following  Sunday,  the  last  of  the  year,  he 
heard  a  sermon  in  the  presbyterian  chapel,  in  which 
the  ever-present  possibility  of  death  was  alluded  to, 
which  made  a  deep  impression  upon  his  mind.  This 
was  his  last  attendance  but  one  at  any  church. 

Leaving  Vienna  they  proceeded  to  Pesth,  where 
was  spent  the  first  day  of  the  year  1884.  Fearful 
lest  the  weather  or  some  other  obstacle  should  inter 
pose  to  prevent  their  journey,  Lelarid  was  anxious  to 
push  on  to  Constantinople.  He  grew  impatient  over 
a  week's  delay  at  Bucharest,  owing  to  snowstorms ; 
and  he  rejoiced  even  in  the  dark  night  sleigh-ride  to 
the  Danube,  and  the  passage  at  daybreak  in  open 


LELAND  STANFORD.  183 

boats  over  the  half-frozen  river,  and  the  railway 
journey  from  Roustchouk  to  Varna,  and  the  Black 
sea  trip  thence  to  Constantinople. 

He  soon  had  a  philosophy  of  his  own  regarding  the 
nature  and  idiosyncracies  of  the  Turk,  though  he 
hardly  could  determine  whether  most  to  despise  him 
for  his  fatalistic  tendencies  and  treatment  of  women, 
or  admire  him  for  his  self-contained  independence  and 
punctiliousness  in  matters  of  business  and  religion. 

During  the  many  excursions  made  in  and  around 
Constantinople  Leland  was  profoundly  interested  in 
all  he  saw.  It  was  to  him  like  a  visit  to  another 
world.  He  never  tired  of  a  picnic  on  the  hill  of 
Scutari,  or  a  ramble  among  the  fortifications  of  Stam- 
boul ;  and  one  day,  which  he  declared  was  the  happi 
est  of  his  life,  was  devoted  to  an  excursion  on  the 
Bosphorus  from  the  Golden  Horn  to  the  Black  sea, 
in  which  he  was  permitted  to  steer  the  steam-launch 
which  carried  the  part}r. 

The  middle  of  January  saw  them  at  Athens,  with 
Leland  once  more  deeply  immersed  in  the  study  of 
archaeology.  The  day  of  their  arrival  was  stormy  ; 
but  he  could  not  wait  for  fine  weather  to  see  the  Acro 
polis  ;  so  his  first  visit  to  the  Parthenon,  the  Erech- 
theium,  and  the  temple  of  Athena  Nike  was  made 
knee-deep  in  snow.  A  day  spent  with  Dr.  Schliemann, 
and  in  the  examination  of  his  collection,  was  prolific 
of  interest  and  enthusiasm  ;  and  it  was  a  great  disap 
pointment  that  he  could  not  be  present  at  the  sinking 
of  a  shaft  at  Marathon. 

A  most  pleasing  picture  he  presented  at  this  time, 
physically,  morally,  and  mentally.  Tall,  as  we  have 
seen,  well  formed,  lithe,  active,  graceful,  with  a  capa 
cious  forehead,  light-brown  hair,  steady  thoughtful 
dark- brown  eyes,  clear  ruddy  complexion,  light- 
hearted,  and  full  of  fun,  yet  with  the  quiet  dignity  of 
self-respect  and  self-possession,  he  was  the  favorite  of 
all  wherever  he  went.  He  possessed  great  firmness 
of  character  for  one  so  young,  being  no  less  intellect- 


184  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

ually  independent  than  physically  self-reliant.  He 
possessed  also  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  faculty  of 
absorbing  knowledge,  drinking  in  at  every  pore  all 
that  man  or  nature  could  give.  His  criticisms  on 
almost  every  subject,  though  more  playful  than 
pedantic,  were  nevertheless  intelligent  and  shrewd, 
and  in  the  main  correct. 

In  heart  he  was  no  less  perfect  than  in  mind. 
While  yet  a  child,  from  among  his  active  and  gay 
companions,  he  singled  out  a  little,  sickly,  lame  boy 
and  made  him  his  friend.  On  *he  Palo  Alto  farm, 
when  a  dog  once  broke  its  leg,  after  bathing  and 
bandaging  it  himself,  he  telegraphed  to  San  Francisco 
for  a  doctor,  and  when  obliged  himself  to  go  to  the 
city  he  carried  the  injured  animal  with  him,  fearing 
that  it  would  not  receive  proper  care  if  left  behind. 
Again,  in  New  York,  in  winter,  he  called  a  little  boy 
into  the  back  yard  to  play  with  him.  The  snow  and 
slush  lay  deep  on  the  ground,  and  by  and  by  when 
the  little  fellow  saw  his  shoes  wret  and  soiled  he 
began  to  cry,  saying  he  would  be  punished.  "  Never 
mind,"  said  Leland,  "  I  will  clean  your  shoes  ;  I  got 
you  into  the  scrape,  and  it  is  ou\y  fair  I  should  get 
you  out  of  it."  And  he  did.  These  examples,  which 
speak  louder  than  words,  might  be  multiplied  indefi 
nitely. 

Fifteen  years  of  the  happiest  and  purest  life  mortals 
may  know  had  now  passed  over  him,  and  he  stands 
upon  the  threshold  of  that  great  and  mysterioua 
change  which  every  living  thing  must  sooner  or  later 
undergo.  To  him  it  comes,  alas !  all  too  soon. 
Beloved  he  of  the  gods,  indeed,  if  it  be  true  that 
they  whom  the  gods  love  die  early !  Beloved  also  of 
parents  and  friends,  who  would  have  him  with  them 
yet  a  little  longer,  who  would  have  him  live  after 
them,  supplement  their  achievements  here,  adding 
day  by  day  to  the  great  work  of  their  lives,  becoming 
great  and  good  through  their  teaching  and  example, 
and  being  likewise  good  and  great  in  and  of  himself. 


LELAND  STANFORD.  185 

The  first  shadow  of  coming  events  appeared  during 
the  return  from  an  expedition  to  the  ruins  of  the 
temple  of  Eleusis,  when  Leland  was  unusually  quiet 
and  complained  of  sore  throat  and  headache.  But 
being  apparently  as  well  as  ever  the  next  day,  nothing 
more  was  thought  of  it. 

From  Athens  they  crossed  the  isthmus  of  Corinth, 
and  proceeded  in  a  small  Greek  steamer  up  the  gulf 
to  Brindisi,  and  thence  by  rail  to  Naples.  During 
this  last  stage  of  the  journey  Leland  again  appeared 
unwell,  stretching  himself  upon  the  seat  and  sleeping 
much  of  the  way,  and  during  the  two  weeks  spent  at 
Naples  he  never  seemed  quite  in  his  usual  health. 

Writing  to  Miss  Hull  from  Naples — the  last  letter 
he  ever  wrote — he  says :  "  I  have  seen  lots  of  things 
since  I  wrote  you  last.  We  went  to  Nice  after  leav 
ing  Paris  and  had  a  very  enjoyable  time  there,  as 
the  American  fleet  was  at  Villefranche,  and  there 
were  dances  on  the  ships  every  Thursday.  From 
Nice  we  determined  to  go  to  Constantinople.  We 
stopped  at  Venice  for  five  delightful  days.  Three 
evenings  in  succession  we  took  gondolas  and  hired  a 
boat-load  of  singers,  and  had  them  follow  us  down 
the  canals  and  sing  under  the  Rialto.  Christmas  we 

O 

spent  in  Vienna,  where  we  stayed  altogether  ten 
days,  going  to  the  opera  almost  every  night,  and  see 
ing  one  of  the  best  opera  companies  and  ballets  in  the 
world.  At  Bucharest  we  spent  the  Russian  New 
Year's  day,  and  on  the  5th  of  January  we  started  at 
five  in  the  morninor  for  Varna.  We  reached  the 

O 

Danube  at  about  six,  at  a  place  called  Giurgevo  (you 
must  know  that  for  about  ten  days  everything  had 
been  blocked  with  snow).  Here  we  took  sleighs  and 
drove  over  the  ice  to  a  small  island,  where  two  open 
boats  were  waiting  to  take  the  passengers  across  the 
river  through  the  floating  ice.  The  river  is  about  a 
mile  broad  here.  At  Rustchuk,  on  the  opposite 
bank,  the  train  for  Varna  was  waiting  for  us.  When 
we  arrived  in  Constantinople,  we  all  thought  we  were 


186  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

in  the  strangest  country  we  had  ever  seen  before. 
No  two  Turks  seemed  to  be  dressed  alike,  because 
their  clothes  are  of  so  many  different  colors.  We 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Pangiris  Bey,  one  of  the 
Sultan's  aids-de-camp,  and  he  took  us  to  the  treasury. 
Here  we  saw  diamonds  literally  by  the  bushel,  and 
one  emerald  as  large  as  your  hand,  bowls  full  of 
emeralds,  rubies,  and  pearls,  and  carpets  of  gold 
covered  with  precious  stones  as  close  as  they  could 
be  laid  on.  After  seeing  three  rooms  out  of  the  six 
which  are  filled  with  just  such  jewels,  we  were  taken 
to  one  of  the  Sultan's  private  Kiosks,  where  coffee 
was  served  to  us  in  cups  with  gold  holders  set  with 
diamonds ;  we  were  also  served  with  a  delicious  mix 
ture  of  preserved  rose  leaves.  We  saw  two  other 
beautiful  palaces,  but  it  would  take  me  a  month  to 
tell  you  all  about  them,  so  I  will  wait  until  I  get 
home.  At  Athens  we  had  a  very  nice  time,  and  met 
Mr  and  Mrs  Schuyler,  Mrs  Bakmeteff  (General 
Beale's  daughter),  and  Dr  and  Mrs  Schliemann.  I 
bought  a  good  many  antiquities  for  my  museum,  and 
papa  gave  me  4,000  francs  for  its  support.  We  saw 
lots  of  beautiful  and  wonderful  things  in  Greece,  and 
enjoyed  our  stay  very  much.  We  had  quite  a  smooth 
passage  from  Corinth  to  Brindisi,  and  I  arrived  at 
Naples  without  having  been  seasick  at  all  from  Varna 
to  this  place. 

"  Papa  is  well  (except  for  his  stiffness),  and  does  a 
great  deal  in  the  way  of  sight-seeing.  Mamma  and 
I  are  not  well  just  at  present,  because  we  have  been 
going  it  too  hard.  Mr  Nash  lost  his  valise  in  cross 
ing  the  Danube,  and  now  anything  that  cannot  be 
found  happened  to  be  in  that.  It  must  have  been  as 
large  as  Noah's  ark,  and  contained  the  treasures  of 
the  Indies." 

The  rest  is  briefly  told.  From  Naples  the  party 
proceeded  to  Rome,  and  as  Leland  grew  worse  rather 
than  better,  they  sought  for  him  a  more  bracing 
climate  at  Florence,  where  they  arrived  on  the  20th 


LELAND  STANFORD.  187 

of  February.  And  now  the  fever  which  had  been 
burning  within  him  broke  forth  in  all  its  malignity. 
In  a  darkened  room  he  lay  for  three  weeks,  while  life 
was  every  moment  loosening  its  hold  on  him,  the 
hearts  of  the  agonized  parents  meanwhile  vibrating 
between  hope  and  despair.  His  mind  wandered  at 
times,  with  lucid  intervals,  the  periods  of  delirium 
being  filled  with  pure  and  innocent  flights  of  fancy 
regarding  his  museum,  his  horses,  his  studies  and  his 
pleasures. 

At  last,  on  the  13th  day  of  March  1884,  being  then 
of  the  age  of  fifteen  years  and  ten  months,  his  pure 
and  gentle  spirit  passed  away. 

It  is  impossible  for  pen  to  depict  the  feelings  of  the 
parents.  As  to  the  father,  his  fondest  hopes,  his 
proudest  anticipations  were  gone.  How  blank  was  all 
the  world,  how  hollow  its  successes  and  its  honors ! 
The  boy  was  so  intelligent,  so  affectionate,  so  appre 
ciative  of  the  proud  possibilities  which  nature  and  his 
parentage  had  given  him.  And  he  has  left  us  ;  he 
has  gone  before ;  what  now  shall  be  done  with  all 
that  remains  ? 

The  night  following  the  boy's  departure  the  father 
had  a  dream.  His  rest  had  been  broken  much  of 
late  by  anxious  watching,  and  now  his  sleep  was  fitful, 
the  aching  heart  and  fevered  brain  preventing  health- 
restoring  slumber.  His  darling  came  to  him,  his  image 
being  apparently  as  real  as  if  he  were  palpably  pres 
ent  in  the  flesh.  And  he  spake  these  words  :  "  Father, 
be  not  cast  down  ;  all  is  well ;  you  have  much  to  live 
for ;  you  can  do  so  much  more  and  better  for  your 
fellow-men  than  I." 

It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  such  a  realistic  dream 
should  spring  from  the  father's  disordered  sleep,  for 
he  had  been  conversing  of  these  things  with  the  boy  ; 
he  had  been  thinking  much  of  Palo  Alto,  and  what 
he  should  do  with  it,  and  with  all  his  other  vast  pos 
sessions,  and  all  these  were  running  in  his  mind.  He 
arose  and  told  his  dream  to  the  beloved  wife  and 


188  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

mother ;  and  they  talked  it  over;  and  when  the  morn 
ing  came  it  had  been  determined  between  them  that 
they  should  establish  a  university.  They  found  con 
solation  in  the  thought,  for  it  had  been  the  thought 
of  their  darling  ;  it  made  his  absence  seem  less 
real,  his  spiritual  presence  more  palpable ;  and  from 
that  moment  they  never  lost  sight  of  their  great 
purpose. 

Leland  was  a  strong,  healthy  boy,  and,  with  a  sound 
mind  in  a  sound  body,  was  deemed  beyond  the  ordinary 
risks  of  human  vicissitudes  by  those  to  whom  he  would 
have  been  so  worthy  a  successor.  But  while  thus 
regarded  by  parental  affection  and  admiration  all 
unknown  to  them  the  seeds  of  disease  were  working 
in  him  the  ruin  of  that  beloved  frame.  The  fever 
caught  at  Constantinople  began  to  show  itself  at 
Athens,  increasing  as  the  journey  continued,  so  that 
his  thirst  and  indisposition  interfered  with  his  com 
fort  and  sight-seeing  at  Athens,  and  more  particu 
larly  at  Naples.  It  was  long  in  developing.  For  even 
in  Naples,  while  his  father  was  regarding  with  some 
undefined  concern  the  contour  of  his  face,  with  its 
clear  complexion  and  chiseled  profile,  he  felt  reassured 
by  what  he  saw. 

And  now  with  the  mother  he  is  confidently  looking 
forward  to  the  reunion,  satisfied  that  the  other  world 
is  better  than  this ;  that  it  is  a  world  of  activity,  in 
which  we  will  have  far  more  happiness  than  in  any 
possible  passive  condition  where  there  are  no  desires. 

And  the  mother  ;  it  nearly  killed  her.  It  was  long 
before  she  recovered  from  the  blow,  if  indeed  she 
ever  entirely  recovered.  But  for  her  strong  religious 
faith,  her  firm  belief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
and  that  God  never  intended  death  as  a  punishment, 
she  probably  would  not  have  survived. 

He  was  not  only  her  child,  but  her  constant  com 
panion  from  birth.  The  house  in  Sacramento  where 
he  was  born,  and  in  which  cluster  so  many  tender 
associations,  is  kept  for  the  present,  but  may 


LELAND  STANFORD.  189 

finally  be  devoted  to  some  charitable  purpose  In 
common  with  her  husband  she  felt  a  great  interest  in 
training  the  boy  for  the  greatest  usefulness,  and  was 
constantly  planting  ideas  in  his  mind  which  would 
influence  him  to  do  right  throughout  his  whole  future 
life. 

"  Our  precious  boy  had  always  the  greatest  respect 
for  me,"  the  mother  observes,  "whatever  I  said  he 
regarded  as  law.  Sometimes  he  would  go  to  his 
father,  who  would  say,  '  My  boy,  have  you  asked  your 
mother  ?  it  is  just  as  your  mother  says ;'  and  that 
was  an  additional  reason  why  he  respected  everything 
I  said  and  everything  I  did.  He  would  come  to  me 
and  ask  my  advice  about  everything." 

His  nurse  used  to  complain  to  his  mother  some 
times  about  his  soiling  his  clothes,  and  on  one  occa 
sion  the  latter  told  him  to  be  more  careful.  He  took 
the  matter  quite  seriously,  though  he  said  nothing  at 
the  time,  for  he  was  of  an  earnest,  honest  nature. 
But  at  night,  when  his  mother  went  in  to  hear  his 
prayers,  as  was  her  custom,  after  she  thought  he  was 
entirely  finished,  he  added,  "and  please,  God,  help 
me  to  keep  my  clothes  clean." 

"  It  shocked  me,"  says  the  mother.  "  It  made  me 
feel  so  terribly.  I  told  it  to  my  mother  and  to  Mr 
Stanford's  mother ;  I  said  that  it  had  taught  me  a 
lesson.  He  had  taken  it  so  to  heart  that  he  was 
praying  over  it."  Thereupon  Mr  Stanford's  mother 
made  him  some  plaid  clothes  to  play  in,  saying  that 
he  would  not  soil  them  so  easily. 

From  the  time  he  was  taken  ill  until  he  passed 
away  he  never  spoke  of  death,  but  would  try  to  cheer 
his  well-nigh  heart-broken  parents,  saying,  "  Oh, 
papa,  I  think  I  am  all  right — I  think  I  am  better.'' 

"  But  he  was  very  earnest,"  the  mother  says,  "and 
I  think  he  knew  what  was  coming.  I  could  see  his 
little  hands  in  the  act  of  prayer  and  hear  him  say, 
"  Our  Father."  He  was  more  to  her  than  a  son,  she 
used  to  say  ;  he  was  a  lover,  When  she  would  put 


190  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

on  an  article  of  dress  which  he  did  not  fancy  he  would 
remark  :  "Well,  I  think  I  would  not  wear  that."  He 
was  very  simple  and  unassuming  in  his  tastes,  and 
did  not  like  to  see  his  mother  arrayed  in  any  attire 
which  might  attract  attention. 

Among  his  various  tutors  on  the  continent  was 
sometimes  a  catholic.  Once,  in  Italy,  as  mother  and 
son  were  walking  out  in  the  afternoon,  according  to 

CJ  '  O 

their  custom,  they  entered  a  church,  and  as  they 
passed  the  bowl  of  holy  water,  Leland,  having 
removed  his  hat  with  reverence,  dipped  his  fingers 
and  crossed  himself,  as  he  had  seen  his  tutor  do. 
When  his  mother  expressed  surprise  he  said,  "Mamma, 
that  does  me  no  harm,  and  shows  respect  to  other's 
opinions." 

And  the  curiosities  the  boy  gathered  all  through 
that  memorable  winter,  the  happy  three  meanwhile 
little  dreaming  that  it  was  their  last  together  on  this 
earth — with  what  yearning  interest  the  mother  later 
turned  them  over,  every  article,  great  or  small,  wrapped 
as  it  was  in  so  many  tender  memories.  Yet,  in  the 
practical  remembrance  of  her  darling,  and  his  every 
wish,  her  devoted  love  finds  some  solace  in  catalogu 
ing  and  caring  for  his  museum,  and  making  additions 
thereto  by  the  purchase  from  time  to  time  of  such 
articles  as  he  would  have  fancied.  Taking  the  matter 
up  where  he  left  it  off,  she  pursues  it  in  the  same 
spirit ;  for  he  used  to  say,  "  Mamma,  I  am  not  doing 
this  for  my  own  benefit,  but  for  other  boys  who  are 
not  able  to  visit  foreign  countries  and  see  for  them 
selves." 

How  became  Mrs  Stanford  so  interested  in  kinder 
gartens  ?  In  this  way  :  There  came  to  her  one  day 
in  San  Francisco  a  young  girl  asking  assistance  to 
open  a  kindergarten.  Not  taking  special  interest  in 
this  species  of  incipient  education,  Mrs  Stanford  did 
not  encourage  her.  But  the  girl  persevered.  So  when 
one  day  she  said,  "Madam,  I  lack  so  much  of  being 
able  to  open  my  school,"  Mrs  Stanford  replied, 


LELAND  STANFORD.  191 

"Very  well,  raise  what  you  can,  and  whatever  you 
fall  short  I  will  make  up."  The  result  was  $50  a 
month  for  the  support  of  the  cause. 

While  they  were  in  Europe,  the  young  teacher 
would  write  letters  regarding  the  progress  of  her 
school  to  Mrs  Stanford,  who  at  first  merely  glanced 
at  them,  other  matters  of  greater  importance  occu 
pying  her  attention.  But  presently  they  all  became 
more  interested  in  these  letters.  Leland  would  come 
and  look  over  his  mother's  shoulder  as  they  read  them; 
and  on  one  such  occasion  when  she  remarked  to  him, 
"I  must  read  this  to  papa,"  he  said,  "Mamma,  don't 
you  think  that  is  a  very  good  work  you  are  doing?" 
And  always  after  that  whenever  a  letter  came  from 
this  young  person,  he  would  say,  "Mamma,  read  it." 
On  their  return  to  San  Francisco  the  teacher  called 
and  asked  her  patron  to  visit  the  school.  Leland 
accompanied  his  mother,  and  when  they  came  out  he 
said:  "Mamma,  I  am  very  proud  of  that  school." 
"Why,  Leland,  is  that  so?"  "Yes,"  he  replied, 
"it  is  so  much  better  to  spend  money  that  way  than 
foolishly." 

He  liked  to  feel  that  he  could  work  and  earn  money 
like  other  boys,  and  his  parents  would  rather  encour 
age  the  idea,  and  take  pleasure  in  paying  him.  When 
in  the  California  street  house  in  San  Francisco  he  said 
to  his  mother,  "Why  not  let  me  keep  the  grounds  in 
order  ?  I  will  do  it  for  twenty-five  cents  a  day." 
'*  You  can  do  it  if  you  like,"  his  mother  said.  Some 
times  she  would  borrow  of  him,  but  always  at  the 
end  of  the  month  he  would  show  her  his  account- 
book,  which  he  carefully  kept,  saying,  "Mamma,  do 
you  see  where  my  money  has  gone  ?" 

Most  of  his  money  he  put  into  his  museum ;  but 
he  had  $1,000  laid  away  in  the  bank,  and  this  he 
used  to  speak  of  occasionally  during  his  illness,  and  of 
what  his  curios  had  cost.  When  it  seemed  possible 
to  his  mother  that  he  might  not  recover,  she  thought 
to  learn  from  him,  without  causing  alarm,  what  he 


192  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

would  like  done  with  this  money.  So  she  spoke 
to  him  in  her  ordinary  cheerful  voice,  though 
fierce  sorrow  and  pain  were  tearing  her  heart  in 
pieces,  "  Leland,  you  know  about  that  thousand  dol 
lars  ?"  He  understood  her  and  said,  "  Well,  never 
mind  that  now ;  some  day  it  may  feed  the  hungry  or 
clothe  the  poor."  "It  shows  his  nature,"  remarked 
his  mother.  "  In  looking  back  it  seems  as  if  we  did 
not  know  the  treasure  we  possessed.  Think  what  a 
work  he  did  with  us  I" 

We  have  seen  how  at  Athens,  just  before  he  was 
taken  ill,  he  met  Professor  Schliemann,  who  took  a 
great  fancy  to  him,  being  surprised  to  see  a  boy  with 
such  a  strong  and  intelligent  interest  in  the  study  of 
antiquities.  It  seemed  a  pleasure  to  the  professor  to 
show  and  explain  to  him  and  to  present  him  choice 
pieces  as  additions  to  his  collection.  One  day  he 
came  home  in  some  excitement,  and  exclaimed, 
"  Mamma,  Professor  Schliemann  has  told  me  where 
there  are  two  choice  statuettes ;  they  date  back  400 
years  before  the  time  of  Christ.  I  wish  papa  would 
go  and  see  them." 

"Do  you  know  how  much  they  cost?"  his  mother 
asked. 

"Eight  hundred  dollars,"  was  the  reply. 

"I  am  afraid  papa  will  think  it  very  foolish,"  said 
his  mother.  Nevertheless  he  spoke  about  it  to  his 
father,  who  answered,  "Well,  my  boy,  that  is  a  great 
deal  of  money,  you  know." 

By  and  by  his  mother  inquired  :  "Where  are  those 
statuettes  you  were  speaking  of?  Suppose  you  ask 
papa  to  go  around  and  look  at  them."  But  this  he 
did  not  wish  to  do,  for  if  his  father  said,  "  No,  my 
boy,"  that  was  an  end  of  it.  "  Well,"  said  his  mother, 
"  I  will  ask  papa,"  and  the  following  day  all  went  to 
see  them,  admiring  them  greatly,  while  the  antiqua 
rian  gave  their  historic  interest ;  but  Mr  Stanford 
did  not  say  he  would  take  them.  Leland  would  not 
say,  "  Papa,  please  buy  them,"  but  he  watched  his 


LELAND  STANFORD.  193 

father  intently  to  see  what  he  would  do,  for  his  heart 
was  set  on  them. 

When  they  all  came  out  his  mother  said,  "  Well, 
papa  did  not  take  them."  "  No,"  Leland  replied, 
"but  it  is  all  right."  Then  Mr  Stanford  said,  "My 
boy,  $800  is  a  good  deal  of  money  to  pay  for  two 
statuettes  like  those.  But  I  will  tell  you  what  I  will 
do.  I  will  give  you  $800  to  lay  out  as  you  choose. 
If  you  wish  to  spend  it  on  the  statuettes,  all  right; 
but  if  you  prefer  to  keep  it  until  we  go  to  Paris  and 
see  other  things,  you  can  do  so."  Presently  his 
father  gave  him  a  bill  for  the  amount,  and  Leland 
put  it  in  his  pocket. 

In  the  afternoon,  when  driving  with  his  mother, 
she  asked  him,  "  Well,  Leland,  what  have  you 
decided  to  do  about  it  ?"  Straightening  himself  up 
as  he  turned  and  looked  at  her,  "  Mamma,"  he  said, 
"I  would  not  lose  my  father's  respect  for  all  the 
statuettes  in  Athens.  If  papa  had  wanted  me  to 
have  them  he  would  have  bought  them."  The  dig 
nity  of  the  action,  the  nobleness  of  the  sentiment, 
struck  to  the  mother's  heart,  and  she  burst  into  tears. 
"  Forgive  me,  my  darling  boy,"  she  said,  and  kissed 
him,  and  there  the  matter  rested.  But  in  the  eve 
ning  after  Leland  had  retired,  and  Mrs  Stanford  was 
relating  the  circumstance  to  her  husband,  she  again 
broke  down,  overcome  by  maternal  pride  and  tender 
ness,  as  she  exclaimed,  "  Mr  Stanford,  we  don't  know 
the  boy." 

And  the  note  is  in  the  boy's  pocket  now,  just  as  it 
was  given  to  him.  And  the  statuettes  were  pur 
chased  and  placed  in  his  museum,  copies  having  first 
been  taken  lest  some  accident  should  befall  the  orig 
inals.  And  as  the  father  looks  at  them,  and  a  flood 
of  tender  memories  comes  rushing  in  upon  him,  he 
sighs:  "Ah,  those  statuettes!" 

Thus  to  his  parents  the  boy  is  not  dead — only  spir 
itualized.  He  is  as  near  to  them  as  when  his  sweet 

C.  B.— II.     13 


194  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

breath  was  upon  their  cheeks,  when  his  dear  voice 
was  still  tremulous  in  their  ears. 

And  now  came  to  San  Francisco  on  the  13th  of 
March  1884,  the  message  from  the  bereaved  parents, 
"  Our  darling  boy  went  to  heaven  this  morning  at 
half-past  seven  o'clock."  It  flew  over  the  city  like  a 
wail  of  woe,  filling  all  hearts  with  sorrow.  That  one 
so  gifted,  one  in  whom  such  hopes  were  placed,  on 
whom  such  vast  responsibilities  might  worthily  be 
laid ;  that  he  should  die  so  young,  just  as  all  the 
bright  anticipations  of  his  parents  and  friends  were 
budding  into  promise,  was  indeed  an  infliction  such 
as  can  only  be  mitigated  by  the  healing  touch  of  time, 
and  by  an  unshaken  trust  in  the  wisdom  of  an  all- wise 
Providence. 

While  bearing  homeward  to  its  final  resting-place 
at  Palo  Alto  the  inanimate  form  of  their  beloved,  the 
afflicted  parents  discussed  their  plans  for  turning  this 
fell  affliction  into  a  blessing  that  should  tend  to  the 
improvement  and  benefit  of  the  human  race.  They 
would  build  to  his  memory  a  monument  that  would 
endure  forever,  and  forever  enshrine  him  in  the  hearts 
of  coming  generations.  "  And  thus,"  says  one  of  the 
tustees,  "  was  matured  this  magnificent  idea  of  the 
Leland  Stanford  Junior  University,  endowed  as  no 
educational  institution  was  ever  before  endowed — an 
institution  for  the  children  of  the  poor  equally  with 
those  of  the  rich,  where  all  should  stand  on  a  common 
level  and  be  taught  the  useful  lessons  of  industry,  as 
well  as  of  science  and  literature — in  a  word,  the  les 
sons  of  active,  useful  life." 

But  long  before  their  bereavement  Mr  and  Mrs 
Stanford  had  been  considering  how  best  to  confer 
some  enduring  benefit  on  the  world,  and  especially  on 
the  state  of  their  adoption.  No  sooner  did  the  build 
ing  of  the  railway  become  an  assured  success,  and  its 
artificer  see  that  boundless  wealth  would  flow  from 
his  efforts,  as  well  as  to  himself  as  to  others,  than 
there  began  to  formulate  in  his  mind  the  plan  for  a 


LELAND  STANFORD.  195 

public  benefaction  in  some  degree  commensurate  with 
those  high  instrumentalities  which  Providence  had  so 
liberally  bestowed  upon  him.  What  it  should  be,  or 
how  or  where  established,  were  points  which  remained 
for  some  time  undetermined.  Gifts  to  existing  insti 
tutions,  upon  which  he  would  have  no  opportunity  to 
impress  his  own  mind,  or  whose  destiny  he  could  in 
no  wise  influence,  would  not  satisfy  him.  Unless  his 
positive  mental  temperament  and  strong  originality 
might  have  proper  exercise  in  the  bestowal  of  wealth, 
the  larger  part  of  those  pleasing  contemplations  which 
should  rightly  attend  great  dispensations  would  be 
lost. 

Various  plans  were  at  different  times  discussed 
with  his  friends,  and  these  discussions  took  various 
forms  until  nearly  all  the  methods  by  which  great 
wealth  has  ministered  to  benevolent  impulses  were 
brought  up  and  examined.  Above  all  he  had  no  idea 
of  deferring  his  benefactions  for  posthumous  execution, 
but  would  pluralize  his  philanthropic  purposes  by 
adding  to  the  gift  of  money  the  value  of  his  clear, 
practical  mind  and  broad  experience. 

And  of  all  the  various  forms  of  philanthropy  which 
were  entertained  and  discussed,none  appeared  so  to  rec 
ommend  themselves  as  an  educational  institution,  and 
one  of  a  character  differing  from  any  at  present  exist 
ing.  The  progressive  in  humanity  is  purely  intel 
lectual  force,  notwithstanding  that  progressional 
phenomena  may  be  impressed  by  mind  upon  matter. 
To  improve  the  intellect,  therefore,  is  the  most  civ 
ilizing  of  human  efforts.  But  as  civilization  is  some 
thing  more  than  abstract  intellectual  force,  so  the 
most  productive  processes  of  education  are  not  those 
resulting  alone  in  abstract  knowledge.  This  being  a 
material  world  in  a  material  universe,  and  man  being 
partly  material  as  well  as  partly  intellectual  in  his 
nature  and  organization,  practical  education  is  of  all 
forms  of  human  advancement  the  most  beneficial  and 
the  most  effectual, 


196  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

Mr  Stanford's  idea  is  that  all  intellectual  develop 
ment  should  be  considered,  particularly  the  general 
literary  branches.  He  would  have  present  the  facili 
ties  for  a  technical  education  for  those  who  are  already 
well  educated  in  other  directions;  he  would  also  have 
Americans  instructed  in  all  branches  of  mechanics, 
that  students  may  learn  how  to  use  their  hands,  as 
far  as  possible,  theoretically  if  not  practically,  so  that 
every  one  may  have  at  his  command  the  means  of  a 
livelihood.  Labor  must  be  made  respectable,  and 
idleness  a  disgrace,  and  this  sentiment  must  be  firmly 
rooted  in  the  minds  of  the  young  of  both  sexes. 

In  all  the  existing  systems  of  instruction  were 
many  defects.  There  was  everywhere  too  wide  a 
separation  between  the  mental  and  the  material, 
between  the  theoretical  and  practical.  The  theory, 
therefore,  upon  which  the  Leland  Stanford  Junior 
University  was  founded  was  evolved  from  the  inher 
ent  necessity  and  advantages  of  self-help.  Through 
out  the  whole  of  his  active  and  useful  career  the 
illustrious  founder  had  observed  with  no  small  con 
cern  the  ability  of  some  men  to  utilize  the  labor  of 
others,  and  that  some  were  only  fit  to  be  employed 
by  others.  Not  all  could  be  masters  of  other  men, 
but  so  far  as  possible  each  should  be  master  of  him 
self.  His  dominant  idea  was,  therefore,  what  system 
of  education  will  best  develop  those  capabilities  which 
every  one  possesses  in  a  greater  or  less  degree?  what 
system  of  training  will  make  one  most  useful  to  one's 
self?  Women  are  as  much  entitled  to  education  and 
elevation  as  men;  if  either  is  neglected  it  should  not 
be  the  former,  for  if  women  are  educated  their  chil 
dren  will  not  grow  up  in  ignorance.  For  the  first  six 
or  seven  years  of  a  child's  life  its  mind  is  largely 
influenced  by  the  mother;  hence  it  is  important  that 
the  child  should  have  an  educated  and  intelligent 
mother. 

It  was  Mr  Stanford's  purpose  to  have  the  archi 
tecture  and  rooms  all  pleasing  and  appropriate ;  ele- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  197 

gant,  if  you  will,  and  yet  attended  by  an  air  of 
economy  ;  pleasant,  but  not  costly,  and  no  waste ;  all 
must  be  in  harmony  with  the  sentiments  of  the  people 
it  is  intended  to  reach — the  aggregated  sentiments 

oo      o 

averaged,  we  might  say.  He  would  have  an  institu 
tion  for  rich  and  poor  alike,  where  industry  and  thrift 
will  be  conspicuous ;  where  mind,  merit  and  the  dig 
nity  of  labor  are  placed  before  the  pretensions  of 
money,  birth,  or  fashion. 

"  I  know  in  a  general  way,"  remarks  the  trustee 
above  referred  to,  "that  it  is  his  purpose,  so  far  as 
may  be  possible,  to  multiply,  increase,  and  broaden 
the  avenues  of  respectable  occupations  for  women ; 
and  it  is  his  desire  to  inculcate  in  the  rising  genera 
tion  the  fact  that  the  poor  man  is  just  as  good  as  the 
rich  man ;  and  the  fact  that  a  man  is  poor  should  not 
work  against  him  any  more  than  the  fact  that  he 
wears  a  thousand  dollar  diamond  stud  in  his  shirt 
bosom.  He  is  decided  in  his  condemnation  of  those 
who  band  themselves  together  to  prevent  the  boys 
learning  the  trades  of  their  fathers.  He  is  a  firm 
believer  in  the  theory  of  cooperation  and  combination 
of  the  laboring  people ;  but  he  believes  that  every 
man  should  have  a  contingent  interest  in  the  business 
he  is  working  at  and  helping  to  carry  on.  He  argues 
that,  if  the  laboring  man  has  a  contingent  interest  in 
the  business,  he  is  apt  to  be  more  useful  and  more 
industrious  than  he  would  be  if  he  were  working  for 
wages  simply  at  a  fixed  sum  per  day  or  month.  He 
believes  the  whole  tendency  of  education  should  be 
toward  enlarging  the  mind  and  increasing  the  pro 
ductive  capacity  of  the  individual,  and  this  increased 
productive  capacity  will  supply  the  increased  wants 
and  tastes  of  the  higher  civilization  which  education 
naturally  produces.  The  establishment  of  the  uni 
versity  is  a  means  to  assist  in  carrying  out  this  cen 
tral  idea. 

"To  give  an  illustration:  I  was  sitting  on  the 
porch  of  the  governor's  house  at  Menlo  Park  one 


198  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

evening  when  a  table  of  inlaid  or  mosaic  work  was 
brought  out.  Mrs  Stanford  had  done  some  deed  of 
kindness  to  one  of  the  men  who  works  around  the 
premises,  and  he  had  conceived  a  great  liking  for  her, 
and  had  spent  a  year  or  more  in  constructing  this 
table  for  her  at  odd  times,  out  of  all  kinds  of  woods, 
and  brought  it  to  her  as  a  present  to  show  his  appre 
ciation.  It  was  a  beautiful  piece  of  workmanship, 
and  highly  prized  by  Mrs  Stanford  as  a  work  of  art. 
But  it  suggested  to  the  ever-thinking  governor  a 
practical  idea — it  was  a  work  that  ladies  could  do ; 
and  he  said  he  was  going  to  have  a  department  in 
the  university  where  instruction  should  be  given  in 
that  kind  of  work." 

Obviously  some  buildings  were  necessary  for  a 
beginning,  but  these,  for  the  most  part,  should  be 
erected  only  as  required.  The  founder  well  knew 
that  stone  and  mortar  did  not  make  a  university,  the 
primary  significance  of  the  term  universitas  being  an 
association  of  men  for  purposes  political,  religious,  or 
commercial ;  or  when  associated  for  the  promotion  of 
learning  they  were  a  learned  universitas.  But  the 
men  always  came  first,  the  buildings  following.  Too 
often  writers  on  universities  start  with  the  assumption 
that  brick  walls  rather  than  individuals  constitute  the 
institution,  and  not  that  the  history  of  a  university 
properly  begins  at  a  point  where,  as  an  association  of 
students,  it  has  acquired  such  strength  and  influence 
as  to  make  itself  felt  as  an  important  factor  in  the 
body  politit.  Mr  Stanford's  idea  is  that  the  histo 
rians  of  the  coming  centuries  may  trace  the  growth 
of  this  institution  in  its  concrete  form  down  from  the 
germ  which  is  now  being  planted,  just  as  we  of  the  pres 
ent  time  may  show  how  the  fellowship  of  living  and 
learned  men,  which  constitutes  the  university  of  the 
twelfth  century,  has  coalesced  into  the  architectural 
university  of  to-day.  How  different  is  this  present 
planting  from  that  of  the  olden  time!  It  is  not  even 
known  when  bands  of  scholars  and  teachers  began  to 


LELAND  STANFORD.  199 

congregate  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  at 
Cambridge  and  Oxford,  all  hungry  for  intellectual 
food.  A  thousand  years  hence  no  doubts  can  arise 
as  to  the  origin,  purpose,  and  progress  of  the  Leland 
Stanford  Junior  University. 

Something  of  the  university  of  the  middle  ages 
we  may  still  find  among  our  own.  In  those  days  a 
corporation  of  learned  men  was  formed  for  the  pur 
pose  of  expounding,  no  one  being  allowed  to  teach 
without  their  sanction,  which  was  given  in  the  form 
of  a  degree,  only  after  trial  of  ability  by  tests  in 
examinations  and  disputations.  The  students  who 
gathered  at  Cambridge  in  mediaeval  times  were  left 
very  much  to  themselves.  As  a  rule  they  were  eager 
to  learn,  but  they  lived  as  they  could ;  lodged 
anywhere  ;  were  often  homeless  ;  fell  into  much  mis 
chief;  got  into  debt  to  the  jews,  the  laissez  faire 
principle  prevailing,  and  many  learning  more  evil 
than  good.  To  counteract  these  baneful  influences  some 
worthy  people  in  due  time  formed  a  kind  of  joint  stock 
association,  hired  a  house,  calling  it  a  hostel,  or  hall, 
and  sub-letted  the  rooms.  This  enraged  the  towns 
men,  who  were  thus  deprived  of  some  of  their  pro 
fits,  though  the  gownsmen  were  gainers  thereby.  For 
centuries  a  fellow  of  a  college  had  only  a  very  small 
study,  while  two  or  three  other  fellows  shared  his 
bedroom.  The  windows  were  unglazed,  walls  bare, 
and  the  floor  of  earth  or  tiles.  Sometimes  money 
was  given  to  support  priests  who  were  studying  the 
ology.  It  is  not  even  known  where  the  money  came 
from,  during  this  epoch,  to  erect  the  first  university 
buildings,  which  were  very  crude  aflairs,  no  house  of 
any  pretensions  being  constructed  prior  to  the  middle 
of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  the  quadrangles  not 
being  completed  until  a  hundred  and  thirty  years 
after  the  first  stone  was  laid.  For  centuries  the  uni 
versity  of  Cambridge  was  a  very  poor  corporation, 
without  halls,  or  schools,  or  library.  The  commence 
ment  exercises  were  held  in  the  churches  of  the 


200  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

Augustinian  or  Franciscan  friars.  Money  came  in 
slowly  ;  work  on  the  building  was  often  stopped.  It 
is  said  that  in  1466  the  chancellor  made  a  visit  to 
London  begging  gifts  of  money  for  the  institution. 
The  several  colleges  were  usually  founded  by  individ 
uals,  building  being  usually  but  not  always  begun 
during  the  lifetime  of  the  founder. 

How  different  at  Palo  Alto  !  A  profusion  of  wealth 
at  once  provides  in  a  most  favored  climate  all  the  con 
veniences  and  comforts  of  the  most  advanced  civiliza 
tion.  Instead  of  the  barbaric  ecclesiasticism  and 
quaint  archaisms  of  the  olden  time  we  have,  in  an 
atmosphere  of  intelligent  and  healthful  vitality,  all 
the  appliances  for  study,  all  the  facilities  for  every 
kind  of  research,  with  professorships  of  the  know- 
able  ;  fantastic  mysticism  and  spiritual  anomalies,  in 
sombre  robes  of  spurious  learning,  having  given  place 
to  clear  and  logical  deductions  from  the  teachings  of 
nature,  with  all  the  varied  illuminations  of  science, 
literature,  and  art.  If  from  these  magnificent  begin 
nings  the  coming  seven  centuries  bring  about  changes 
in  the  Palo  Alto  of  the  future  as  overwhelming  as 
those  produced  at  Cambridge  during  the  past  seven 
centuries,  the  most  vivid  imagination  cannot  conceive 
the  forms  of  new  life  that  will  then  be  assumed,  and 
the  quality  of  the  alumni  then  produced. 

But  the  cold  concrete  fact  in  this  connection  was 
not  all.  There  is  a  touching  and  most  pathetic  side 
to  the  story.  For  while  these  thoughts  were  occupy 
ing  the  mind  of  the  father,  the  same  ennobling  senti 
ments  were  working  their  way  into  the  heart  and 
mind  of  the  son.  He  for  whom  the  institution  is 
named  had  often,  during  his  interesting  and  happy 
life,  as  we  have  seen,  expressed  a  desire  that  the  vast 
fortune  which  some  day  might  be  under  his  control 
should  be  employed  for  the  good  of  his  fellow-men, 
particularly  for  the  well-being  of  the  young  men  and 
young  women  of  his  beloved  California.  And  although 
still  young  in  years,  he  had  thought  in  this  connec- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  201 

tion  of  an  institution  of  learning,  where  the  youth  of 
the  country  might,  together  with  enlightenment  of 
the  mind,  receive  enlargement  of  their  physical  capa 
bilities,  to  the  end  that  they  should  be  more  useful  to 
themselves  and  to  those  around  them. 

As  the  devoted  parents  say  in  the  deed  of  trust : 
"  Since  the  idea  of  establishing  an  institution  of  this 
kind  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  came  directly  and 
largely  from  our  son  and  only  child,  Leland,  and 
in  the  belief  that  had  he  been  spared  to  advise  us  as 
to  the  disposition  of  our  estate  he  would  have  desired 
the  devotion  of  a  large  portion  thereof  for  this  pur 
pose,  we  will  that,  for  all  time  to  come,  the  institu 
tion  hereby  founded  shall  bear  his  name,  and  shall  be 
known  as  The  Leland  Stanford  Junior  University." 

But  these  high  aspirations  the  youth  was  not  spared 
to  realize,  and  ever  since  his  departure  his  parents 
have  triumphed  over  death  by  consecrating  their  sor 
row  to  the  execution  of  his  desire.  With  that  ten 
derness  of  feeling  which  only  parents  know  they 
have  gone  forward  in  their  sacred  work,  the  beloved 
one  in  heaven  smiling  approbation  on  their  efforts. 
But,  aside  from  the  sweet  influences  which  underly 
this  dispensation,  we  must  not  forget  that  Mr.  Stan 
ford  had  always  entertained  original  ideas  with  regard 
to  the  education  and  training  of  youth,  to  the  end 
that  the  race  might  improve  and  happiness  be 
increased.  Indeed,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
son  inherited  from  the  father  many  of  his  loftiest 
aspirations. 

The  first  step  of  the  founder  toward  the  establish 
ment  and  endowment  of  the  university  was  the  prepa 
ration  by  himself  of  an  endowment  act,  passed  by 
the  legislature  of  California,  under  which  the  neces 
sary  grant  of  property  might  be  made  for  the  erection 
and  perpetual  maintenance  of  the  institution.  The 
act  was  in  every  respect  admirably  adapted  to  the 
object  in  view,  which  was  to  advance  learning  and 
promote  the  public  welfare  .by  providing  for  the  con- 


202  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

veyance  and  holding  of  property,  and  the  creation  of 
trusts  for  the  establishing  and  maintenance  in  Cali 
fornia  of  universities,  schools,  mechanical  institutes, 
museums,  and  galleries  of  art.  It  was  approved  March 
9,  1885.  Under  its  provisions  any  person  may  found 
and  endow  an  institution  of  learning,  science,  or  art 
by  grant  of  property  to  trustees  for  that  purpose, 
stating  therein  the  nature  object  and  name  of  the 
institution,  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  trustees, 
directions  for  the  management  of  the  property,  and 
place  and  time  of  erection  of  buildings.  The  person 
making  such  grant  may  provide  for  the  trades  and 
professions  which  shall  be  taught,  and  for  free  schol 
arships,  and  he  may  also  provide  for  his  own  manage 
ment  of  the  institution  during  his  life,  or,  if  his  wife 
should  survive  him,  then  for  her  management.  Valid 
ity  of  title  to  any  lands  so  granted  cannot  be  ques 
tioned  in  any  court  after  two  years,  and  the  grantors 
may  at  any  time  bequeath  the  whole  property  to  the 
state. 

On  the  llth  of  November  1885  Leland  Stanford 
and  Jane  Lathrop  Stanford  executed  a  grant  for  the 
purpose  of  founding  and  endowing  upon  their  estate 
known  as  the  Palo  Alto  farm,  situated  in  San  Mateo 
and  Santa  Clara  counties,  California,  a  university  for 
both  sexes,  to  be  called  The  Leland  Stanford  Junior 
University,  with  the  schools,  seminaries,  institutes, 
and  all  other  requisites  appropriate  to  a  university  of 
high  degree,  naming  therein  twenty- four  trustees, 
fifteen  of  whom  should  constitute  a  quorum. 

The  deed  of  trust,  engrossed  in  a  large  parchment 
volume  after  the  olden  style,  conveyed  to  the  trus 
tees  :  First,  the  Gridley  farm,  situated  in  Butte 
county,  and  consisting  of  from  19, 000  to  21,000  acres 
of  wheat  land.  Secondly,  the  Vina  farm,  consisting 
of  55,000  acres,  in  Butte  and  Tehama  counties,  with 
agricultural  and  horticultural  divisions  and  a  compre 
hensive  system  of  irrigation,  3,575  acres  being  in 
vines,  1,500  acres  in  alfalfa,  3,000  acres  in  wheat,  and 


LELAND  STANFORD.  203 

2,500  acres  rented  on  shares.  Alternate  stretches  of 
field  and  forest  are  formed  by  the  separation  of  this 
magnificent  domain  into  parks  by  natural  belts  of 
timber  running  down  from  the  foothills,  while  under 
and  around  the  scattering  oaks  which  dot  the  open 
landscape  are  immense  herds  of  livestock,  sheep 
cattle  and  horses,  with  dwellings,  barns,  winery,  and 
all  the  adjuncts  of  an  agricultural  enterprise  of  such 
dimensions.  Thirdly,  the  Palo  Alto  farm,  compris 
ing  7,200  acres,  and  divided  into  four  departments, 
known  as  the  trotting-horse  department,  the  running- 
horse  department,  the  farming  department,  and  the 
house  and  grounds  department,  the  latter  inclosing 
the  family  residence  and  park. 

This  property,  with  the  appurtenances,  was  con 
veyed  to  the  trustees,  the  principal  to  remain  forever 
intact,  and  the  issues  thereof  to  be  devoted  to  the 
foundation  and  maintenance  of  the  university,  with 
such  schools  and  seminaries  as  should  make  it  of  the 
highest  grade,  including  mechanical  institutes,  muse 
ums,  galleries  of  art,  and  laboratories,  with  all  the 
requisites  for  the  study  of  agriculture  and  mechanical 
training,  as  well  as  for  the  cultivation  of  the  mind, 
the  object  being  to  qualify  students  for  direct  useful 
ness  in  life,  and  to  promote  the  public  welfare  by 
exercising  an  influence  in  behalf  of  humanity  and 
civilization,  teaching  the  blessings  of  liberty  regulated 
by  law,  and  inculcating  love  and  reverence  for  the 
great  principles  of  government,  as  derived  from  the 
inalienable  rights  of  man  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur 
suit  of  happiness. 

The  trustees  were  empowered  to  control  the  insti 
tution  and  property,  and  receive  grants  from  others; 
to  appoint  and  remove  a  president,  and  to  fix  the  sal 
aries  of  president,  professors,  and  teachers,  so  as  to 
secure  men  of  the  highest  attainments ;  to  use  the  rents 
only,  and  never  impair  the  principal,  in  the  execution  of 
their  trust ;  to  make  the  educational  system  fit  the 
graduate  for  some  useful  pursuit,  and  to  this  end  to 


204  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

cause  the  pupil,  as  early  as  may  be,  to  declare  the 
calling  in  life  he  may  desire  to  pursue,  such  declara 
tion,  however,  not  being  binding  if,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  president  the  student  is  not  fitted  by  nature 
for  the  pursuit  declared  ;  to  prohibit  sectarian  instruc 
tion,  but  to  have  taught  the  immortality  of  the  soul, 
the  existence  of  an  all-wise  and  benevolent  Creator, 
and  that  obedience  to  his  laws  is  the  highest  duty  of 
man ;  to  have  taught  the  rights  and  advantages  of 
association  and  cooperation  ;  to  afford  equal  facilities 
for  education  to  both  sexes  ;  to  maintain  on  the  Palo 
Alto  estate  a  farm  for  instruction  in  agriculture  in 
all  its  branches ;  to  bestow  upon  the  president  the 
power  of  prescribing  the  course  of  study  and  method 
of  teaching,  as  well  as  the  duties  of  professors  and 
teachers,  and  to  remove  them  at  will ;  to  constitute 
the  president  and  professors  the  faculty,  and  prescribe 
their  duties  as  such  ;  and,  finally,  to  report  proceed 
ings  and  financial  affairs  annually  to  the  governor  of 
California. 

Within  two  years  the  trustees  should  lay  off  a  site 
on  the  Palo  Alto  farm,  and  adopt  a  plan  for  the  build 
ings,  which  should  be  plain,  but  extensive  enough  to 
fill  all  requirements,  and  erected  only  as  required,  the 
trustees  bearing  in  mind  that  elaborate  buildings  do 
not  make  a  university,  but  rather  the  character  and 
attainments  of  the  faculty.  They  should  lay  off  also 
sites  and  erect  buildings  for  the  officers  and  servants 
of  the  institution,  and  dwellings  for  lease  to  parents 
or  guardians,  and  a  church.  They  should  also  set 
aside  and  improve  ten  acres  as  a  place  of  burial  and 
of  last  rest  on  earth  for  the  bodies  of  the  grantors, 
and  of  their  son,  Leland  Stanford  junior,  and,  as  the 
board  should  direct,  for  the  bodies  of  other  persons 
connected  with  the  university. 

The  trustees  should  establish  free  scholarships,  such 
as  the  endowment  of  the  institution  would  justify, 
the  same  to  be  given  to  those  who  by  good  conduct 
and  study  earn  the  right  thereto,  or  to  the  deserving 


LELAND  STANFORD.  205 

children  of  those  who,  dying  without  means  in  the 
service  of  the  state  or  in  the  cause  of  humanity,  have 
a  special  claim  upon  the  good-will  of  mankind.  They 
should  fix  the  terms  upon  which  students  may  be 
admitted,  and  establish  courses  of  lectures  on  gov 
ernment,  law,  medicine,  and  mechanics,  and  they 
could  become  the  custodians  of  minors. 

The  grantors  then  elected  to  control  the  property 
and  the  execution  of  the  trust  during  their  lives,  or 
the  life  of  either,  the  duties  and  powers  of  the  trust 
devolving  on  the  trustees  only  at  their  death,  reserv 
ing  moreover  the  right  to  alter,  amend,  or  modify 
the  conditions  of  the  grant  in  certain  respects.  The 
grantors  also  reserved  to  themselves  the  right  to 
absolute  dominion  over  the  property,  and  rents  there 
from,  during  their  lives,  as  fully  as  if  the  trust  had 
not  been  made,  except  to  sell  or  encumber  the  real 
property  granted. 

Such  are  the  principal  provisions  of  this  memora 
ble  grant.  After  its  execution,  which  took  place  at 
the  residence  of  the  grantors  in  San  Francisco,  Mr 
Stanford  arose  and  addressed  the  trustees  as  follows : 
"  Gentlemen  :  In  the  trust  deed  providing  for  the 
endowment  and  organization  of  the  university  the 
nature,  objects,  and  purposes  of  the  endowment  are 
very  generally  stated.  We  deem  it  appropriate,  how 
ever,  to  enlarge  somewhat  upon  what  is  therein  set 
forth.  The  reasons  that  impelled  us  to  select  the 
Palo  Alto  estate  as  the  location  for  the  university  are 
its  personal  associations,  which  are  most  dear  to  us, 
the  excellence  of  its  climate,  and  its  accessibility. 
The  deed  of  trust  conveys,  and  at  once  irrevocably 
vests  in  you,  the  title  to  all  the  real  property  described 
therein.  The  endowment  of  lands  is  made  because 
they  are,  in  themselves,  of  great  value,  and  their 
proper  management  will  insure  to  the  university  an 
income  much  greater  than  would  be  realized  were  their 
value  to  be  invested  in  any  reliable,  interest- bearing 
security,  Again,  they  can  never  be  alienated,  and 


206  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

will,  therefore,  be  an  unfailing  support  to  the  institu 
tion  which  they  are  designed  to  benefit. 

"As  a  further  assurance  that  the  endowment  will 
be  ample  to  establish  and  maintain  a  university  of  the 
highest  grade  we  have,  by  last  will  and  testament, 
devised  to  you  and  your  successors  additional  prop 
erty.  We  have  done  this  as  a  security  against  the 
uncertainties  of  life,  and  in  the  hope  that  during  our 
lives  the  full  endowment  may  go  to  you.  With  this 
in  view,  we  have  provided  in  this  grant  that  you  may 
take  such  other  property  as  we  may  give  to  more 
fully  carry  out  the  objects  of  this  trust. 

"  The  Palo  Alto  farm  furnishes  a  sufficiently 
diversified  soil,  with  a  topography  which  admirably 
fits  it  as  a  place  for  agricultural  education.  In  time, 
also,  a  handsome  income  will  be  derived  from  the 
rental  of  desirable  residences  to  parents  and  others, 
who  will  choose  the  place  as  a  residence  on  account 
of  its  social,  intellectual,  and  climatic  advantages. 
Of  course,  the  trustees  will  see  to  it  that  no  objec 
tionable  people  are  allowed  to  reside  upon  the  estate, 
and  that  no  drinking-saloons  shall  ever  be  opened 
upon  any  part  of  the  premises. 

"  It  should  be  the  aim  of  the  institution  to  enter 
tain  and  inculcate  broad  and  general  ideas  of  progress, 
and  of  the  capacity  of  mankind  for  advancement  in 
civilization.  It  is  clear  that,  to  insure  the  steady 
advancement  of  civilization,  great  care  must  be  exer 
cised  in  the  matter  of  the  general  development  of  the 
great  body  of  the  people.  They  need  education  in 
the  fundamental  principles  of  government,  and  we 
know  of  no  text  so  plain  and  so  suggestive  as  that 
clause  in  our  declaration  of  independence  which 
declares  that  among  the  inalienable  rights  of  man 
are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  and 
that  to  secure  these  rights  governments  are  insti 
tuted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from 
the  consent  of  the  governed.  A  government  founded 
on  such  principles  commands  for  the  support  and  pro- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  207 

tection  of  individual  rights  the  force  of  the  whole  peo 
ple.  With  these  principles  fully  recognized,  agra- 
rianism  and  communism  can  have  only  an  ephemeral 
existence. 

"  The  merely  physical  wants  of  civilized  man  are 
not  much  greater  than  those  of  the  savage,  but  his 
intellectual  wants  are  .  bounded  only  by  his  capacity 
to  conceive.  His  wants,  therefore,  will  always  depend 
upon  his  advancement  in  civilization,  and  the  demand 
for  labor  will  be  measured  accordingly.  The  rapidity 
of  the  communication  of  modern  thought  and  the 
facilities  of  transportation  make  the  civilized  world 
one  great  neighborhood,  in  whose  markets  all  pro- 

•    •  mi  i        • 

ducers  meet  in  competition.  The  relative  compensa 
tion  to  the  producer  must  depend  upon  his  powers  of 
production. 

"When  we  consider  the  endless  variety  of  the 
wants  and  the  desires  of  civilized  society,  we  must 
fully  appreciate  the  value  of  labor-aiding  machinery, 
and  the  necessity  for  having  this  of  the  best  charac 
ter.  Too  much  attention,  therefore,  cannot  be  given 
to  technical  and  mechanical  instruction,  to  the  end 
that  from  our  institution  may  go  out  educators  in 
every  field  of  production. 

"  Out  of  these  suggestions  grows  the  consideration 
of  the  great  advantages,  especially  to  the  laboring 
man,  of  cooperation,  by  which  each  individual  has 
the  benefit  of  the  intellectual  and  physical  forces  of 
his  associates.  It  is  by  the  intelligent  application  of 
these  principles  that  there  will  be  found  the  greatest 
lever  to  elevate  the  mass  of  humanity,  and  laws  should 
be  formed  to  protect  and  develop  cooperative  associa 
tions.  Laws  with  this  object  in  view  will  furnish 
to  the  poor  man  complete  protection  against  the 
monopoly  of  the  rich  ;  and  such  laws,  properly  admin 
istered  and  availed  of,  will  insure  to  the  workers  of 
the  country  the  full  fruits  of  their  industry  and  enter 
prise.  They  will  accomplish  all  that  is  sought  to  be 
secured  by  the  labor  leagues,  trades  unions,  and  other 


208  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

federations  of  workmen,  and  will  be  free  from  the 
objection  of  attempting  to  take  the  unauthorized  or 
wrongful  control  of  the  property,  capital,  or  time  of 
others. 

"  Hence  it  is  that  we  have  provided  for  thorough 
instruction  in  the  principles  of  cooperation.  We  would 
have  it  early  instilled  into  the  student's  mind  that  no 
greater  blow  can  be  struck  at  labor  than  that  which 
makes  its  products  insecure. 

"  While  the  articles  of  endowment  prohibit  sec 
tarianism,  they  direct  that  there  shall  be  taught  that 
there  is  an  all-wise,  benevolent  God,  and  that  the 
soul  is  immortal.  It  seems  to  us  that  the  welfare  of 
man  on  earth  depends  on  the  belief  in  immortality, 
and  that  the  advantages  of  every  good  act,  and  the 
disadvantages  of  every  evil  one,  follow  man  from  this 
life  into  the  next,  there  attaching  to  him  as  certainly 
as  individuality  is  maintained.  As  to  the  manner  in 
which  this  shall  be  taught,  and  whence  the  confirma 
tions  shall  be  derived,  we  are  not  prepared  to  advance 
any  thought  other  than  that  which  may  be  sought 
from  every  available  source  that  tends  to  throw  light 
upon  the  subject. 

"  While  it  is  our  desire  that  there  shall  be  no  sec 
tarian  teaching  in  this  institution,  it  is  very  far  from 
our  thoughts  to  exclude  divine  service.  We  have 
provided  that  a  suitable  building  be  erected  wherein 
the  professors  of  the  various  religious  denominations 
shall,  from  time  to  time,  be  invited  to  discourses  not 
sectarian  in  character. 

"  We  deem  it  of  the  first  importance  that  the  edu 
cation  of  both  sexes  shall  be  equally  full  and  complete, 
varied  only  as  nature  dictates.  The  rights  of  one 
sex,  political  and  otherwise,  are  the  same  as  those  of 
the  other  sex  ;  and  this  equality  of  rights  ought  to 
be  ful]y  recognized.  We  have  sought  to  place  the 
free  scholarships  upon  the  basis  of  right  to  the  stu 
dent.  We  think  this  is  important,  in  order  that  his 
dignity  and  self-respect  shall  be  maintained,  and  that 


LELAND  STANFORD.  209 

he  may  understand  that,  in  his  political  relations,  he 
is  entitled  to  nothing  he  does  not  learn.  With  respect 
to  the  expenses  of  the  students  of  the  university,  we 
desire  that  the  trustees  shall  fix  them  as  low  as  pos 
sible. 

"  The  articles  of  endowment  are  intended  to  be  in 
the  nature  of  a  constitution  for  the  government  and 
guidance  of  the  board  of  trustees,  in  a  general  manner, 
not  in  detail.  We  hope  that  this  institution  will 
endure  through  long  ages.  Provisions  regarding 
details  of  management,  however  wise  they  may  be  at 
present,  might  prove  to  be  mischievous  under  condi 
tions  which  may  arise  in  the  future. 

"  In  the  deed  of  trust  we  have  designated  the  pur 
poses  of  this  university.  The  object  is  not  alone  to 
give  the  student  a  technical  education,  fitting  him  for 
a  successful  business  life,  but  it  is  also  to  instil  into 
his  mind  an  appreciation  of  the  blessings  of  this  gov 
ernment,  a  reverence  for  its  institutions,  and  a  love  for 
God  and  humanity,  to  the  end  that  he  may  go  forth 
and  by  precept  and  example  spread  the  great  truths, 
by  the  light  of  which  his  fellow- men  will  be  elevated 
and  taught  how  to  attain  happiness  in  this  world  and 
in  the  life  eternal. 

"  We  do  not  expect  to  establish  a  university  and 
fill  it  with  students  at  once.  It  must  be  the  growth 
of  time  and  experience.  Our  idea  is  that  in  the  first 
instance  we  shall  require  the  establishment  of  colleges 
for  both  sexes  ;  then  of  primary  schools,  as  they  may 
be  needed,  and  out  of  all  these  will  grow  the  great 
central  institution  for  more  advanced  study. 

"  We  have  fixed  the  number  of  trustees  at  twenty- 
four,  that  the  institution  may  have  the  strength 
which  comes  from  numbers.  There  is  little  danger 
of  divided  counsels,  for  the  educational  department 
will  be  under  the  control  of  the  president  of  the 
university,  who  will  have  and  exercise  all  the  power 
necessary  to  make  him  responsible  for  its  successful 
management.  In  order  that  he  may  have  the  assist- 

C.  B.— I.     14 


210  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

ance  of  a  competent  staff  of  professors,  we  have  pro 
vided  that  the  best  talent  obtainable  shall  be  procured, 
and  that  liberal  compensation  shall  always  be  offered. 

"  We  are  impressed  with  the  deep  responsibilities 
of  this  undertaking,  and  invoke  at  all  times  your  aid 
and  the  divine  help  and  blessing.  During  our  lives 
we  hope  that  we  shall  be  compelled  to  make  little 
draft  upon  the  time  of  you,  gentlemen,  members  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Leland  Stanford  Junior 
University ;  yet  we  trust  that  you  will  be  ever  ready 
to  assist  us  with  your  counsel." 

During  the  entire  proceedings,  which  lasted  little 
more  than  an  hour,  Mr  Stanford  displayed  an  utter 
unconsciousness  of  doing  anything  more  than  a  simple 
and  pleasing  act  of  philanthropy.  He  was  less 
impressed  with  the  magnitude  of  the  deed  than  any 
one  present,  and  gave  his  property  away  in  so  simple 
and  unostentatious  a  manner  that  his  self-renunciation 
was  noticed  by  all.  He  intimated,  during  some 
informal  conversation,  that  his  own  and  his  wife's 
will  had  been  made,  and  that  in  case  of  their  early 
death,  they  had  left  many  large  additional  bequests 
to  carry  out  the  plans  respecting  the  university.  It 
may  be  well  to  quote  here  the  following  from  the  San 
Francisco  Post,  which  conveys  a  clear  idea  of  Mr 
Stanford's  intentions  relative  to  the  university,  and  of 
the  nature  and  value  of  the  property  conveyed. 

"  The  act  by  which  Senator  Stanford  so  grandly 
endowed  the  Palo  Alto  institute  of  learning  will,  in 
the  years  to  come,  rank  as  one  of  the  great  events  in 
the  history  of  the  state  of  California,  and  for  that 
matter  of  the  United  States.  Since  the  death  of  his 
only  child,  Leland  Stanford,  Jr.,  it  has  been  the  sole 
aim  of  the  senator's  life  to  found  an  institution  of 
learning  in  this  state  which  should  be  equal  to  all, 
and,  if  possible,  excel  the  best  colleges  in  the  world. 
To  this  end  he  draughted  and  secured  the  enactment 
last  winter  of  a  law  for  the  protection  of  all  endow 
ments  that  may  be  made  in  the  future  for  educational 


LELAND  STANFORD.  211 

institutions  in  California.  Since  that  time  his  atten 
tion  has  been  largely  paid  to  the  perfection  of  his 
plans  for  the  founding  of  the  great  educational  centre. 
Bv  the  deed  of  trust,  which  he  placed  in  the  hands 
of*  the  trustees  of  the  institute,  he  conveys  for  the 
lasting  benefit  of  the  institution  83,200  acres  of  land, 
comprising  the  most  valuable  estates  in  California, 
the  products  of  which  will  go  toward  the  fulfilment 
of  his  wishes.  And  at  the  same  time,  to  guard  against 
any  possibility  of  failure  of  the  plan  by  death  or  other 
unexpected  events.  Senator  and  Mrs  Stanford  have 
made  their  wills,  by  which  they  provide  for  further 
vast  endowments  of  the  institution,  which  it  is  said 
will  afford  a  greater  income  than  can  ever  be  utilized. 
This,  however,  is  but  a  temporary  expedient  for  the 
purpose  of  safety.  For  they  hope  to  be  able  to  put 
their  property  in  such  shape  that  the  whole  endow 
ment  can  be  turned  over  to  the  trustees  during  their 
lives,  and  that  they  may  live  to  devote  their  whole 
time  and  atte  ntion  to  the  completion  and  realization 
of  their  great  project. 

"  Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  history  of 
Senator  Stanford  know  that  he  never  does  a  thing  by 
halves  ;  yet  the  public  can  but  be  surprised  when  they 
learn  of  the  wonderful  work  he  has  undertaken,  and 
the  vast  scope  to  be  covered  by  this  Palo  Alto  insti 
tution.  It  is  his  intention  to  make  it  a  fount  of  learn 
ing  that  will  satisfy  the  cravings  of  all  classes  for 
knowledge,  from  the  common  mechanical  trades  to 
the  highest  branches  of  art,  science,  and  mechanics — 

O 

in  fact,  an  educational  centre  that  will  obviate  the 
necessity  which  now  compels  the  ambitious  students 
of  this  country  to  go  to  Europe  to  complete  their 
education. 

"  There  will  be  no  branch  of  the  arts,  sciences,  or 
mechanics  that  will  not  be  taught  in  Palo  Alto,  and 
to  these  educational  advantages  male  and  female  will 
be  equally  entitled.  The  institution,  by  the  munifi 
cent  salaries  it  will  be  able  to  pay,  will  draw  to  its 


212  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

force  of  educators  the  most  famous  and  talented  pro 
fessors  of  the  globe  ;  and  the  splendid  climate  of  the 
section  of  country  in  which  Palo  Alto  is  situated 
will  in  no  small  degree  tend  to  induce  the  great  pro 
fessors  of  the  east  and  Europe  to  accept  chairs  in  its 
departments.  The  youth  of  California,  and  America 
as  well,  can  now  look  forward  to  the  time  in  the  near 
future  when  the  doors  of  a  free  institution  will  be 
thrown  open  to  them,  wherein  the  highest  standard 
of  excellence  in  technical  learning  known  to  our  civili 
zation  may  be  attained.  The  departments  will  include 
a  college  of  medicine,  which  it  will  be  the  aim  of 
Senator  Stanford  to  make  the  greatest  in  this  coun 
try,  and  to  the  conduct  of  which,  if  possible,  will  be 
called  such  men  as  Jenner  of  London,  and  Brown- 
Sequard  of  Paris,  whose  lectures  the  best  physicians 
of  America  may  attend  with  profit.  There  will  be  a 
college  of  law,  presided  over  by  the  ablest  masters  of 
the  law  to  be  obtained  ;  a  department  wherein  will  be 
taught  all  the  sciences  and  higher  mathematics ;  a 
school  of  arts,  in  which,  under  the  ablest  professors, 
such  as  now  draw  students  from  all  parts  of  the  civil 
ized  world  to  Munich  ;  thorough  instruction  will  be 
given  in  painting,  sculpture,  drawing,  design,  etc. 

"A  grand  conservatory  of  music,  under  the  direc 
tion  of  the  most  famous  masters  of  Italy  and  Europe, 
which  will  afford  the  best  musical  education  to  be  had 
in  the  world,  will  be  one  of  the  particular  features  of 
this  institute  of  technics.  There  will  also  be  a 
school  of  mechanics,  which  will  turn  out  all  grades  in 
this  class,  from  the  common  artisan  to  the  scientific 
engineer  and  master  machinist,  and  include  instruc 
tion  in  all  grades  of  scientific  draughting  and  archi 
tecture.  One  of  the  important  branches  of  the 
institution  will  be  a  school  of  agriculture,  to  which 
will  be  attached  a  farm,  the  soil  and  climate  of  which 
will  produce  any  of  the  agricultural  or  horticultural 
products  of  the  temperate  or  semi-tropic  zones. 
Among  the  valuable  adjuncts  of  the  institution  are  to 


LELAND  STANFORD.  213 

be  a  splendid  museum  and  libraries,  containing  the 
best  works  pertaining  to  the  various  departments  of 
learning.  And  this  is  not  all.  When  the  time  conies, 
as  it  eventually  will,  that  Palo  Alto  becomes  an  edu 
cational  centre,  around  which  will  be  built  a  town,  the 
intention  of  Senator  Stanford  is  to  erect  buildings  fcr 
preparatory  schools,  in  order  that  people  residing 
there  may  have  facilities  for  educating  their  younger 
children  up  to  the  standard  at  which  pupils  will  be 
admitted  to  the  higher  courses. 

"  The  deed  of  trust  carefully  provides  against 
expenditure  of  money  on  buildings  that  may  be  use 
less  as  universities,  the  projector  believing  that  the 
faculty  is  the  element  to  be  most  considered.  Sena 
tor  Stanford's  idea  is  to  have  the  buildings  erected  in 
the  form  of  a  parallelogram,  and  it  is  intended  that 
two  colleges  shall  be  built  at  first — one  for  males  and 
the  other  for  females. 

"These  colleges,  and  all  other  buildings,  will  be 
constructed  on  a  plan  admitting  of  expansion  and 
additions  whenever  necessary.  He  has  also  provided 
for  selecting  a  site  at  Palo  Alto  upon  which  are  to 
be  erected  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  parents 
and  guardians  of  children,  and  such  other  persons  as 
trustees  may  permit  to  reside  there.  These  buildings 
will  be  rented  at  a  fair  rental,  the  proceeds  to  go  to 
the  fund  for  the  support  of  the  university.  Follow 
ing  the  erection  of  the  first  two  colleges  will  be  the 
building  of  institutions  in  which  will  be  given  the 
higher  course  of  education.  These  colleges  will  be 
provided  with  ample  lecture  rooms  ;  and  a  provision  of 
the  deed  of  trust  requires  the  trustees  to  pay  the 
highest  salaries  for  instructors  of  any  institution  of 
the  kind  in  the  world.  This  higher  course  will  be 
free  to  post-graduates  of  all  colleges  and  universities, 
and  to  such  other  deserving  persons  as  the  trustees 
may  elect  to  admit.  Free  scholarships  will  be  estab 
lished  in  the  colleges  of  the  university,  which  are  to 
be  given  to  deserving  pupils  of  the  public  schools,  or 


214  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

to  the  children  of  those  who  have  died  without 
means,  in  the  service  of  the  state  or  the  cause  of 
humanity.  The  trustees  will  deal  with  the  property 
chiefly.  They  will  elect  the  president  of  the  univer 
sity  and  appoint  the  professors  and  teachers,  but  the 
president  will  have  charge  of  the  course  of  study,  as 
to  what  it  shall  include,  and  he  will  also  have  the 
power  to  discharge  any  teacher  or  professor  at  any 
time,  thereby  making  him  directly  responsible  to  the 
trustees  for  the  educational  management  of  the  insti 
tution.  It  is  the  senator's  idea  to  make  the  president 
absolute,  with  the  other  members  of  the  faculty  as 
his  staff,  believing  that  responsibility  and  power 
belong  together.  At  a  certain  stage  of  his  progress 
each  student  will  be  required  to  select  the  pursuit  he 
is  to  follow  through  life,  and  if  the  selection  is 
approved  by  the  president  as  practicable  the  pupil 
will  be  afforded  every  possible  advantage  to  perfect 
himself  or  herself  in  the  chosen  calling. 

"  Palo  Alto  is  so  near  San  Francisco  and  the  uni 
versity  at  Berkeley,  that  when  the  Southern  Pacific 
railroad  is  built  along  the  bay  shore  the  run  can  be 
made  from  this  city  to  Palo  Alto  in  forty  minutes 
without  using  any  more  power  than  is  required  at 
present,  and  the  time  will  be  eventually  made  much 
shorter.  Low  rates  of  fare  will  be  given,  for  the 
purpose  of  encouraging  attendance  at  the  institution ; 
and  this  will  make  Palo  Alto  a  very  desirable  place 
of  residence  for  people  who  have  children  to  educate 
and  who  do  business  in  this  city.  On  the  other  hand, 
it  will  afford  facilities  for  the  children  of  people  who 
reside  here  to  attend  the  university  and  still  live  at 
home ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  those  persons 
who  may  desire  to  take  the  higher  courses  of  study. 
With  this  incentive  to  settlement  there,  it  will  be  but 
a  short  time  ere  Palo  Alto  will  become  in  reality  a 
suburb  of  San  Francisco. 

"  During  their  lives  the  university  will  be  under 
the  control  of  Senator  and  Mrs  Stanford,  as  they  are 


LELAND  STANFORD.  215 

named  as  trustees,  but  the  grant  provides  that  they 
cannot  sell  or  encumber  the  property  in  any  way, 
and  that  it  is  devised  forever.  It  was  for  this  reason 
that  Senator  Stanford  felt  averse  to  going  to  the 
United  States  senate,  desiring  to  devote  the  remain 
der  of  his  life  exclusively  to  the  institution  he  has 
founded,  and  to  give  it  his  care  and  the  direction  which 
he  thinks  it  ought  to  have  ;  but  the  senatorship  came 
to  him  in  such  a  manner  that  he  felt  he  was  not  free 
to  decline.  Now  that  he  has  dedicated  himself  and 
a  large  portion  of  his  property  to  the  use  of  the  state, 
his  methods  as  a  senator  will  never  be  misunderstood, 
and  he  ought  to  be  able  to  do  a  great  deal  for  the 
state,  of  which  for  nearly  a  third  of  a  century  he  has 
been  a  part." 

After  appointing  trustees,  Mr  Stanford  began  to 
instruct  them  in  what  he  desired  carried  out,  and  the 
ways  and  means  which  in  his  judgment  would  best 
accomplish  the  purpose.  As  to  the  character  and 
purposes  of  the  university,  he  thus  fully  explains: 
"  It  has  been  my  aim  to  found  an  institution  of  learn 
ing  which  will  more  nearly  conform  to  the  progressive 
spirit  of  the  age,  and  more  nearly  subserve  the  neces 
sities  of  modern  civilization,  than  the  universities 
which  retain  the  rudimentary  remains  of  the  original 
university  ideal.  The  higher  education  of  the  past 
has  consisted  in  the  mastery  of  that  knowledge  which 
belonged  to  the  ancients,  or,  more  properly,  the  clas 
sical  period.  Until  within  very  modern  times,  what 
has  been  known  as  the  learning  of  the  world  was 
locked  up  in  the  dead  languages.  Until  within  a 
comparatively  recent  period  in  the  history  of  educa 
tion  scholarship  consisted  in  familiarity  with  Aris 
totle.  The  basis  of  all  learning  was  in  what  is  known 
as  philosophy  among  the  Greeks.  Hence  education 
began  only  after  the  acquirement  of  the  languages  in 
which  the  learning  of  the  past  was  entombed.  The 
arts,  law,  medicine,  natural  sciences  are  subjects  of 
modern  introduction,  and  these  the  student  usually 


216  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

acquires  disassociated  with  all  experimental  knowl 
edge,  and  hence  the  acquirement  is  not  evolutionary, 
or  that  which  comes  from  learning,  after  the  neces 
sity  for  knowledge  is  experienced,  but  learning  with 
perception  as  to  the  practical  value  of  the  knowledge 
which  is  being  acquired.  Thus  a  strong  contrast  was 
produced  between  the  results  of  apprenticeship  and 
the  practical  utility  of  scholarship.  The  greatest 
naval  commanders  were  not  produced  by  the  acade 
mies  in  which  nautical  science  and  the  art  of  naval 
warfare  are  taught,  but  by  actual  observation  and 
experience  upon  the  seas.  The  best  lawyers  and  the 
most  profound  jurists  owe  their  eminence  less  to  the 
schools  in  which  they  were  taught  than  to  the  self- 
teaching  resulting  from  practice  at  the  bar,  or  expe 
rience  on  the  bench.  The  great  astronomers  acquired 
their  knowledge  from  the  observation  of  the  heavens 
rather  than  instructions  illustrated  with  an  orrery. 
Sir  Isaac  Newton,  Agassiz,  Huxley,  Tyndall,  achieved 
their  eminence  in  the  world  of  science  by  original 
observation,  and  the  foundation  of  their  acquirement 
was  in  apprenticeship  rather  than  in  the  academy. 

"All  educational  schemes  will  fail  in  their  accom 
plishment  of  good  to  men  which  have  not  for  their 
great  leading  object  the  formation  of  high  moral  char- 

O  ^7  v  O 

acter  and  right  purposes  in  life.  With  right  purposes 
and  worthy  ambitions  there  arises  in  the  mind  strong 
desire,  and  for  the  gratification  of  this  desire  effort 
will  be  put  forth,  and  the  advantages  of  knowledge 
for  the  accomplishment  of  purposes  will  make  its 
acquirement  easy.  Civilization  is  simply  the  percep 
tion  of  new  wants  in  the  mind  of  man.  Primarily  the 
earth  is  the  inexhaustible  source  from  which  all  the 
wants  of  man  may  be  satisfied.  Education  expands 
the  mind  and  augments  the  perceptions.  Unless, 
therefore,  it  confers  upon  the  educated  additional 
capacity  for  the  gratification  of  the  wants  which  may 
be  perceived,  or  which  by  the  expansion  of  the  mind 
may  come  into  being,  it  fails  in  the  accomplishment 


LELAND  STANFORD.  217 


>f  its  greatest  purpose.  The  earth  being  the  inex- 
laustible  source  from  which  all  wants  may  be  sup 
plied,  it  will  yield  up  its  treasures  of  supply  only  as 
intelligence  is  brought  to  bear  upon  production.  Man's 
wants  are  limited  only  by  his  capacity  to  perceive 
them ;  and,  with  the  advancement  of  the  complex 
wants  of  civilization,  the  luxury  of  the  past  becomes 
the  penury  of  the  present.  The  most  distinctive 
point  of  departure  from  barbarous  toward  civilized 
life  is  that  at  which  man  supplements  his  hands  by 
implements.  Civilization  would  never  have  advanced 
Deyond  the  point  of  its  rudest  stages  but  for  the  sup 
plemental  aid  afforded  by  the  hand  of  man  by  imple- 
aents.  First,  implements  of  the  chase.  These  gave 
ray  to  those  used  in  the  peaceful  pursuits  of  agri 
culture.  Man's  wants  were  also  expanded  by  his 
capacity  to  gratify  them.  Thus,  with  the  introduc 
tion  of  the  implements  of  agriculture,  the  subsistence 
)f  physical  life  became  easy. 

"To  the  bare  necessities  of  physical  existence  there 
rere  added  embellishments,  ornamentation,  and  this 
larks  the  dawn  of  the  aesthetic  in  life.  But  the 
esthetic  faculty  in  man  appears  to  be  dominant  in 
the  savage  ;  at  least  it  has  no  manifestation  until 
after  the  problem  of  a  mere  subsistence  has  been 
fully  mastered.  With  the  mastery  of  that  problem 
the  higher  wants  appear  to  have  birth.  The  Indians 
of  our  western  plains  seem  to  desire  no  more  com 
fortable  or  elegant  habitation  than  a  circle  made  of 
sagebrush  ;  slightly  higher  manifestation  of  comfort  is 
found  in  the  rude  tent  made  of  skins.  The  Indian  feels 
the  want  of  this  tent,  and  puts  forth  the  effort  neces 
sary  for  the  gratification  of  this  desire.  He  subsists 
by  the  chase,  and  displays  no  more  energy  in  pro 
curing  his  subsistence  than  the  immediate  gratifica 
tion  of  his  physical  wants  draws  forth. 

"Our  vast  national  domain,  dotted  over  with  vil 
lages  and  cities,  strewn  everywhere  with  elegant  and 
comfortable  mansions,  beautified  with  the  accessories 


218  .GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

of  refinement,  furnished  with  books  and  musical 
instruments,  gridironed  with  railways,  netted  all  over 
with  electric  wire — in  short,  showing  forth  all  the 
exaltation  and  embellishment  of  a  high  state  of  a 
civilized  life — was  exactly  the  same  country,  possess 
ing  the  same  natural  resources,  as  when  inhabited  by 
the  aboriginal  savages  found  in  occupancy  by  the  first 
discoverers.  Our  physical  country  has  yielded  to 
man  all  these  accessories  of  physical  comfort,  aesthetic 
refinement,  artistic  taste,  intellectual  advancement, 
and  spiritual  development.  It  has  yielded  up  these 
things  to  man  in  obedience  to  his  perception  of  diver 
sified  wants,  the  gratification  of  which  has  been  made 
possible  by  his  intelligence  and  inventive  genius.  All 
these  embellishments  of  civilized  life  are  the  product 
of  labor. 

"  Divest  men  of  the  capacity  of  production,  due  to 
having  supplemented  his  hand  by  implements  extend 
ing  into  the  wide  range  of  labor-aiding  machinery, 
and  all  these  accompaniments  of  civilized  life  would 
disappear.  Each  individual  is  using  and  consuming, 
in  civilized  life,  the  results  of  a  vast  labor,  an  amount  of 
productive  energy,  in  fact,  to  which  the  unaided  hand 
of  man  would  be  wholly  unequal.  With  the  solution  of 
the  primitive  problem  of  existence  the  next  higher  step 
may  be  taken ;  then  aesthetic  taste  supervenes,  upon 
the  gratification  of  physical  want.  Intellectual  desires 
follow  the  refinement  of  taste,  arid  spiritual  life  and 
contemplation  bloom  as  a  flower  upon  a  physical  and 
intellectual  stalk.  Wealth  is  the  accumulation  of 
labor.  The  greatest  wealth  of  a  nation  resides  in  the 
productive  capacity  of  its  people.  Thus  the  highest 
civilization  will  accompany  the  greatest  productive 
capacity.  The  inventiue  genius  of  man  has  urged 
society  on  to  higher  planes  of  advancement.  In  fact, 
it  is  to  the  inventive  genius  that  the  highest  results 
of  civilization  are  due,  and  especially  that  crowning 
glory  of  social  achievement,  the  more  equal  distribu 
tion  of  wealth.  As  the  instrument  with  which  man 


LELAND  STANFORD.  219 

supplemented  his  hand  has  grown  into  labor-aiding 
machinery  the  creation  of  wealth  has  become  easy, 
and  in  proportion  as  the  creation  of  wealth  is  facili 
tated,  in  that  proportion  all  the  higher  possibilities 
of  man  reach  the  possibility  of  gratification,  hence 
come  into  being.  Labor-aiding  machinery  is,  there 
fore,  the  great  promoter  of  civilized  existence  in  all  its 
attributes,  whether  on  the  basis  of  physical  comforts, 
elegance  of  surroundings,  or  upon  the  field  of  intel 
lectual  achievements,  scholastic  eminence,  or  spiritual 
development. 

"With  the  progress  men  have  made  in  devising 
labor-aiding  machinery  the  blessings  of  plenty  and 
the  comforts  of  ease  have  been  extended,  until  to-day 
the  condition  of  the  common  life  would  have  been 
esteemed  one  of  luxury  in  past  ages.  In  the  recent 
past  the  necessaries  of  life  were  classified  as  food  suffi 
cient  to  maintain  physical  existence,  raiment  adequate 
to  protect  the  nakedness  of  men  from  the  inclemency 
of  the  elements,  and  shelter,  however  rude  or  hum 
ble,  the  progress  of  civilization  being  a  process  of  per 
ception  in  the  direction  of  new  wants,  the  acquirement 
of  higher  wants.  These  wants  of  the  aesthetic,  the 

O  * 

intellectual  and  the  spiritual  nature,  are  the  actual 
necessities  of  civilized  existence.  The  demands  of 
man's  intellectual  nature  are  equally  imperative  with 
those  of  his  physical  nature.  Civilized  man  can  no 
more  endure  intellectual  and  spiritual  than  physical 
starvation.  The  rude  life  of  the  barbarian,  with  its 
absence  of  all  gratification  for  the  higher  faculties  of 
man,  which  come  into  being  by  the  expansion  of  the 
mind  into  civilized  augmentation,  would  be  a  condi 
tion  of  famine  to  the  higher  nature,  when  once  man 
has  become  conscious  of  that  nature.  The  state  or 
decree  of  civilized  existence  will,  therefore,  bear  a 

• 

fixed  ratio  to  the  productive  capacity. 

"  Labor-aiding  invention  is  a  source  of  wealth, 
because  it  cheapens  production.  If  between  man  and 
the  acquirement  of  his  necessities  the  obstacle  of 


220  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

great  labor  supervenes,  then  the  achievement  of  his 
desire  is  at  the  highest  cost  of  effort.  If  labor-aiding 
invention  reduces  this  effort,  then  the  things  desired 
are  easy  of  attainment,  and  the  very  economy  of  their 
production  becomes  a  wealth  of  capacity.  Thus  each 
individual  is  augmented,  because  his  capacity  to 
acquire  is  supplemented.  Moreover,  when  a  single 
article  in  the  list  of  man's  necessities,  which  are  on 
his  physical  or  intellectual  plane,  has  been  cheapened 
by  the  facilities  of  its  production,  the  purchasing 
power  of  all  other  articles,  when  they  seek  to  be 
exchanged  for  that  which  has  been  cheapened,  has 
been  greatly  enhanced.  When  McCormick  invented 
his  reaper  he  initiated  a  line  of  invention  which  has 
constantly  cheapened  the  production  of  breadstuffs. 

"Correspondingly  every  other  result  of  handicraft 
possesses  a  greater  purchasing  power  when  labor  in 
each  particular  form  is  exchanged  for  breadstuffs. 
If  to  supply  the  whole  range  of  civilized  necessities 
human  activity  be  divided  into  a  thousand  fields 
called  trades,  occupations,  or  professions,  embracing 
the  work  of  the  artist,  the  sculptor,  the  writer;  and 
if  to  one  of  these  departments  of  human  activity  a 
highly  productive  labor-aiding  device  is  brought  to 
its  aid,  and  the  product,  which  is  the  special  office  of 
that  field  of  industry,  is  thereby  cheapened,  the  rela 
tive  value  of  the  products  belonging  to  the  other  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  fields  is  correspondingly 
enhanced.  Thns  the  purchasing  power  of  the  prod  ucts 
of  agriculture  is  greatly  augmented  by  the  application 
of  machinery  in  the  production  of  wearing  apparel. 
In  its  national  aspect  this  augmentation  of  productive 
capacity  is  acquiring  with  the  lapse  of  every  year 
higher  importance.  Here  in  America  we  are  attempt 
ing  to  achieve  fiscal  systems  which  will  enable  us  to 
pay  the  highest  rate  of  wages  paid  anywhere  in  the 
world,  and  at  the  same  time  compete  in  the  markets 
of  the  world  in  the  price  of  our  products.  The  inti 
macy  of  communication  between  different  parts  of  the 


LELAND  STANFORD.  221 

world  has  established  a  new  relation  of  countries  to 
each  other,  and  out  of  that  new  relation,  of  necessity, 
a  new  science  of  political  economy.  We  have  accorded 
the  right  of  universal  franchise. 

"  We  have  maintained,  far  beyond  its  experimental 
stages,  a  form  of  government  in  which  the  individual 
is  an  integral  part  of  its  sovereignty.  We  have 
vouchsafed,  even  guaranteed,  by  our  public  shool  sys 
tem,  universal  education.  Upon  every  citizen,  there 
fore,  we  have  conferred  the  dignity  of  sovereignty, 
and  the  grace  and  refinement  of  intellectual  cultiva 
tion.  In  a  country  so  governed  we  have  achieved 
that  which  must  naturally  be  expected,  the  broadest 
distribution  of  civilized  attributes  among  our  people, 
and  the  most  complete  equalization  of  those  attributes. 
The  printing  press  and  the  public  journal  are  the 
great  distributors  of  thought,  the  equalizers  of  intel 
lectual  capacity.  Man's  character  is  ennobled  by 
placing  upon  it  responsibilities  ;  his  nature  is  enriched 
by  the  conferment  of  dignities  ;  his  wants  are  expanded 
and  diversified  by  the  increase  of  intelligence  to  per 
ceive  new  wants. 

"  To  sustain  this  enlargement  of  civilized  existence 
in  each  individual  citizen  of  a  great  nation  like  ours, 
a  higher  wage-earning  must  be  conceded,  and  yet  we 
cannot  depend  wholly  upon  artificial  governmental 
device  for  the  maintenance  of  high  wages.  The  best 
production  a  nation  can  have  for  the  wage-rate  of  its 
people  is  a  superior  productive  capacity,  coupled  with 
superiority  of  industry,  energy,  enterprise,  and  moral 
purpose.  A  nation  superior  in  these  attributes  has 
nothing  to  fear  from  inferiority. 

"  The  basis  therefore  of  a  high  civilization  is  the 
productive  capacity  of  the  people ;  hence  it  is  the 
first  and  highest  office  of  educational  systems  to  make 
familiar  the  laws  of  success.  Intelligence  is  indis 
pensable  to  a  high  degree  of  success  in  any  calling. 
Intelligence,  when  applied  to  horticulture,  performs 
in  that  interesting  department  of  human  industry 


222  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

the  counterpart  of  that  performed  by  labor-aiding 
machinery  in  mechanics.  Intelligence  in  the  cultiva 
tion  of  fields  is  to  the  cultivator  what  the  cotton-gin 
was  to  the  production  of  cotton,  what  the  inventions 
of  Arkwright  were  to  the  production  of  textile  fabrics. 
The  individual  capacity  in  any  department  of  human 
endeavor  is  multiplied  a  hundred-fold  by  intelligence. 
Education  should,  therefore,  come  to  the  aid  of  every 
occupation  and  calling. 

"  The  orchard,  the  vineyard,  the  garden,  cultivated 
fields,  the  husbandry  of  domestic  animals,  the  factory, 
and  the  workshop  should  be  the  objective  depart 
ments  into  which  the  students  of  our  colleges  and 
universities  should  graduate,  equally  with  the  bench, 
the  bar,  the  studio,  or  the  pulpit.  The  fundamental 
error  of  the  world  appears  to  have  been  the  conception 
that  lack  of  mental  training,  or  in  short  ignorance, 
may  become  intrusted  with  the  direction  of  the  world's 
greatest  departments  of  productive  activity,  and  that 
education  belongs  alone  to  the  learned  professions. 
It  will  be  the  aim  of  the  university  to  demonstrate 
the  value  of  trained  perception,  augmented  under 
standing,  enlarged  intellectual  capacity,  elevated 
character  and  moral  purpose,  in  the  fields  and  factories, 
equal  to  the  value  of  these  high  attributes  in  those 
callings  which  relate  to  intellectual  and  spiritual 
beings.  In  short,  mind  possesses  a  mastery  over 
matter  ;  therefore  education,  as  preparatory  to  any 
calling,  is  of  the  highest  value. 

"  A  mechanical  department  will  be  one  of  the 
features  of  the  university.  Inventive  genius  will  be 
enlarged  and  educated.  This  university  ideal  differs 
from  that  which  is  obtained  in  other  and  measurably 
similar  institutions  in  but  one  particular.  The  uni 
versity  ideal  of  the  past  has  been  the  acquirement  of 
theoretical  knowledge.  The  university  I  have  in 
contemplation  joins  the  theoretical  to  the  practical, 
thus  preserving  the  balance  in  the  development  of 
the  mind  between  the  knowledge  of  natural  law  and 


LELAND  STANFORD.  223 

the  actual  application  of  these  laws  as  a  means  of 
success  in  any  calling. 

"  It  will  be  the  aim  of  the  university  to  become 
the  seat  of  all  useful  learning,  the  repository  of  dis 
covery  in  every  branch  of  useful  industry.  Muscular 
development  may  be  achieved  in  the  gymnasium,  and 
yet  the  hand  remain  untrained  to  any  skill  of  handi 
craft  ;  and  so  mind  may  be  evolved  by  educational 
processes,  but  divorced  from  any  faculty  of  the  appli 
cation  of  its  varied  powers  when  confronted  by  the 
problems  of  civilized  life. 

"  The  university  will  recognize  this  important  fact, 
and  will  aim  to  mould  in  the  mind  of  its  students  an 
inseparable  union  in  the  evolution  of  theoretical  and 
practical  knowledge.  To  repeat  what  has  already 
been  said,  it  will  seek  to  teach  the  law  of  success  in 
every  calling.  To  my  mind  there  is  nothing  Utopian 
in  this  design.  Observation  has  convinced  me  that  a 
very  large  class  of  educated  men,  who,  when  they 
enter  the  practical  walks  of  life,  are  regarded  by  the 
graduates  from  apprenticeship  as  impracticables,  have 
been  unfortunate  only  in  the  one  respect  of  having 
been  trained  in  schools  located  so  remotely  from  the 
fields  and  workshops  into  which  they  should  have  been 
graduated,  as  the  next  most  natural  and  nearest  step. 
Education  should  bring  men  by  the  most  logical 
gradations  into  the  callings  they  are  to  pursue  in  life. 
To  do  this  is  the  underlying  thought  of  the  univer 
sity.  Beyond  all  this,  however,  the  acquirements  of 
character  and  moral  purpose  are  the  great  essentials 
of  success.  Some  degree  of  personal  success  may  be 
achieved  without  them,  but  it  has  been  the  most  ear 
nest  purpose  of  all  my  thoughts  in  this  direction  to 
elevate  the  character  of  citizenship — and  to  my  mind 
the  most  scholarly  attainments  are  those  which  pro 
duce  capacities  for  outward  prosperity  with  inward 
dignity,  purity,  and  grace. 

"It  has  also  been  a  part  of  my  earnest  purpose  to 
make  the  university  a  conservator  of  right  theories 


C24  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

of  government.  That  theory  of  government  which 
contemplates  man  as  merely  the  slave  of  society,  neces 
sarily  converts  the  will  of  the  majority  into  an  abso 
lutism.  There  is  no  difference  between  the  maxim 
that  the  majority  can  do  no  wrong  and  that  the  king 
can  do  no  wrong.  There  is  no  distinction  between  the 
brute  force  of  mere  numerical  superiority  and  the 
usurpation  of  an  aristocracy.  To  my  mind  the  high 
est  conception  of  government  is  that  which  recog 
nizes  in  each  individual  citizen  the  possession  of  cer 
tain  natural  and  inalienable  rights  ;  rights  sacred  from 
the  invasion  of  the  will  of  the  majorities  ;  rights  which 
inhere  in  man  as  an  endowment  of  his  creator,  and 
which  governments,  however  constituted,  do  not  pos 
sess  the  right  to  invade.  In  becoming  a  member  of 
society  it  must  be  conceded  that  man  must  surrender 
that  degree  of  absolute  freedom  consistent  with  the 
good  of  the  body  politic,  but  even  after  conceding 
this  there  remains  inalienable  rights  growing  out  of 
the  nature  of  man  and  his  responsibilities,  with  which 
the  individual  has  not  invested  government  with  the 
right  of  interference  or  abridgment.  So  far  from 

• 

having  the  right  to  invade  or  destroy  these  inalien 
able  rights,  it  is  the  primary  object  of  government  to 
preserve  them. 

"  Our  great  charter  of  liberty  has  proclaimed  these 
rights  in  unmistakable  terms  as  those  of  '  life,  liberty 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.'  This  is  a  declaration  that 
each  man  has  a  right  to  himself,  to  the  result  of  his  toil, 
to  the  product  of  the  labor  of  his  hands,  to  the  love 
of  those  endeared  to  him,  to  the  acquirement  of 
wealth,  honorable  distinction,  the  gratification  of 
laudable  ambition,  and  to  the  attainment  of  elevated 
character.  The  endowment  of  these  inalienable  rights 
forms  the  boundaries  of  life  and  liberty,  into  which 
governmental  prerogative  may  not  enter.  To  encroach 
upon  them  would  be  an  invasion  of  natural  right. 
To  concede  that  they  have  been  alienated,  that  the 
right  of  govermental  interference  with  individual  lib- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  225 

erty   is  without  bound,  is  to  invest  a  government, 
whatever  its  form,  with  the  prerogatives  of  tyranny. 

"In  its  early  traditions  our  own  government  recog 
nized  these  principles.  The  profound  enunciations  of 
the  declaration  of  independence  were  better  under 
stood  and  more  revered.  The  contract  between  the 
government  here  established,  and  the  usurpations 
against  whicja  it  was  a  sublime  protest,  was  more 
nearly  present  in  the  minds  of  those  contemporane 
ous  with  its  foundation.  The  doctrine  that  all  just 
government  is  based  upon  the  consent  of  the  governed 
operates  limitations  by  the  realm  of  governmental 
prerogative.  It  discloses  to  us  the  idea  of  govern 
ment  as  the  result  of  a  compact  between  individuals, 
sovereign  of  themselves,  investing  the  government 
called  into  being  by  that  consent  with  governmental 
jurisdiction  over  all  social  relation,  but  preserving  to 
each  and  every  integral  portion  of  that  aggregated 
sovereignty  the  dignity  of  inalienable  right,  reserved 
to  the  individual,  not  surrendered  to  the  government. 
It  has  been  one  of  the  most  profound  purposes  of  my 
mind  in  founding  the  university  to  promote  the  accept 
ance  of  these  great  doctrines  of  government  among 
men, 

"  Third,  and  in  general,  a  leading  feature  lying  at 
the  foundation  of  the  university  relates  to  the  cooper 
ation  of  labor.  The  wealth-producing  power  of 
each  individual  is  discounted  when  hie  labors  for 
another.  Those  who  by  their  enterprise  furnish 
employment  for  others  perform  a  very  great  and  indis 
pensable  office  in  our  systems  of  industry,  as  now 
organized,  but  self-employment  should  be  the  aim  of 
every  one.  No  mind,  however  fertile  in  resource,  or 
however  imbued  with  benevolent  thought,  can  devise 
a  system  more  replete  with  promise  of  good  to  men 
than  the  cooperation  into  effective  relation  of  the  labor 
of  those  who  work  with  their  hands.  This  coopera 
tive  principle  as  applied  to  capital  has  been  signally 
successful  wherever  it  has  been  adopted.  Coopera- 

C.  B.— II.     15 


226  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

tions  are  convenient  forms  of  partnership,  but  under 
their  best  analysis  they  mean  the  cooperation  of  capi 
tal.  The  greater  the  magnitude  of  this  cooperation 
the  more  advantageous  the  relation. 

"  Men  have  perceived  this  and  have  characterized 
it  as  the  power  of  capital.  It  has  been  said  that  a 
single  dollar  in  private  ownership  has  not  the  power 
of  any  single  dollar  in  cooperative  relation  with  large 
accumulations  with  capital — or  to  state  This  in  another 
form,  each  dollar  of  a  million,  under  a  single  owner 
ship,  possesses  as  many  times  the  power  a  single  dollar 
would  possess  in  private  ownership.  This  is  sim 
ply  another  form  of  declaring  the  value  of  cooperation. 
It  is  the  cooperative  relation  of  capital  which  gives 
it  its  power,  and  the  illustration  is  full  of  significance 
to  the  laboring  classes.  The  labor  of  a  single  indi 
vidual  possesses  but  a  small  part  of  the  wealth-pro 
ducing  capacity  which  would  inure  to  it  if  it  were 
associated  with  the  labor  of  a  hundred  individuals 
into  cooperative  relation  under  intelligent  direction. 
The  non-capitalist  classes  have  perceived  the  intro- 
active  value  of  each  dollar  when  large  sums  are 
aggregated  into  active  capital.  They  should  clearly 
perceive  the  significance  of  this  fact  to  be  a  vindica 
tion  of  the  value  of  cooperative  effort. 

"  There  is  no  undertaking,  however  great,  which 
may  not  be  undertaken  if  labor  sufficient  for  its 
accomplishment  is  brought  into  cooperative  relation, 
particularly  if  that  relation  be  actively  organized  and 
under  wise  and  judicious  direction.  Capital  being 
the  product  of  labor,  I  think  I  have  already  said  the 
aggregation  of  labor  is  the  exact  equivalent  of  capi 
tal.  The  productive  capacity  in  an  individual  is  his 
capital.  The  skill  in  handicraft  or  educated  percep 
tions  and  faculties  augment  the  worth  of  men  in  a 
financial  aspect.  The  individual  who  can  earn  $5.00 
per  day  by  reason  of  his  intelligence  or  skill  is  worth 
more  by  the  processes  of  capitalization  than  the  indi 
vidual  who  can  earn  but  one-half  or  one-fifth  of  that 


LELAND  STANFORD.  227 

sum.  Therefore,  aggregate  a  large  number  of  indi 
viduals  who  possess  that  species  of  capital  which  for 
convenience  we  have  called  wealth-producing  capac 
ity,  and  we  have  at  once  aggregated  wealth  and  asso 
ciated  capital,  for  such  aggregation  could  command 
the  necessary  capital ;  and  since  all  wealth  is  the 
product  of  labor,  the  possession  of  a  labor  capacity  is 
equal  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  most  gigantic 
enterprise.  To  a  superficial  consideration  of  the  sub 
ject  capital  seems  to  possess  an  advantage  over 
labor ;  but  the  conclusions  from  such  superficial 
observation  are  erroneous.  Produce  in  the  minds 
of  the  laboring  classes  the  same  facility  for  combin 
ing  their  labor  that  exists  in  the  minds  of  capitalists, 
and  labor  would  become  entirely  independent  of  fac 
ulty.  It  would  sustain  to  capital  a  relation  of  per 
fect  independence.  The  raw  material  to  which  skilled 
labor  is  added  in  the  manufacture  of  wares  is  of 
itself  a  product  of  labor.  Suppose  there  is  coopera 
tion  in  the  product  of  the  raw  material,  then  one  cooper 
ative  relation  would  strengthen  another,  and  there 
would  be  a  perfect  interdependence,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  perfect  independence  of  capital.  In  a  condi 
tion  of  society  and  under  an  industrial  organization 
which  places  labor  completely  at  the  mercy  of  capi 
tal,  the  accumulations  of  capital  will  necessarily  be 
rapid,  and  an  unequal  distribution  of  wealth  is  at  once 
to  be  observed. 

"  This  tendency  would  be  carried  to  the  utmost 
extreme,  until  eventually  the  largest  accumulations 
of  capital  would  not  only  subordinate  labor  but  would 
override  smaller  aggregations.  The  one  remedy  for 
this  tendency,  which  to  all  appearances  has  been 
ineradicable  from  industrial  system,  is  the  coopera 
tion  and  intelligent  direction  of  labor.  That  this 
remedy  has  not  been  seized  upon  and  adopted  by  the 
masses  of  laboring  men  is  due  wholly  to  the  inadequacy 
of  educational  systems.  Great  social  principles  and 
social  forces  are  availed  of  by  men  only  after  an  intel- 


228  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

ligent  perception  of  their  value.  It  will  be  the  aim 
of  the  university  to  educate  those  who  come  within 
its  atmosphere  in  the  direction  of  cooperation.  Many 
experiments  in  this  direction  have  been  made,  and 
whatever  of  failure  has  attended  them  has  been  due 
to  imperfection  of  educated  faculties. 

"  The  operation  of  the  cooperative  principle  in  the 
performance  of  the  labor  of  the  world  requires  an 
educated  perception  of  its  value,  the  special  forma 
tion  of  character  adapted  to  such  new  relation,  and 
the  acquirement  of  that  degree  of  intelligence  which 
confers  upon  individual  character  and  adaptability  to 
this  relation.  It  will  be  the  leading  aim  of  the  uni 
versity  to  form  the  character  and  the  perception  of 
its  industrial  students  into  that  fitness  wherein  asso 
ciated  effort  will  be  the  natural  and  pleasurable  result 
of  their  industrial  career. 

11  We  have  then  the  three  great  leading  objects  of 
the  university — first,  education,  with  the  object  of 
enhancing  the  productive  capacity  of  men  equally 
with  their  intellectual  culture  ;  second,  the  conserva 
tion  of  the  great  doctrines  of  inalienable  right  in  the 
citizen  as  the  corner-stone  of  just  government;  third, 
the  independence  of  capital  and  the  self-emplo}  rnent 
of  non-capitalist  classes,  by  such  system  of  instruc 
tion  as  will  tend  to  the  establishment  of  cooperative 
effort  in  the  industrial  systems  of  the  future. 

"While  these  distinctive  objects,  imperfectly  pre 
sented  here,  constitute  perhaps  the  most  striking  feat 
ures  of  distinctiveness  which  will  be  characteristic 
of  this  university,  it  is  by  no  means  the  design  to 
deprive  any  student  of  that  refinement  of  culture 
which  it  has  been  in  all  time  the  object  of  the  higher 
education  to  confer.  All  culture  exercises  a  refining 
influence  upon  the  character,  and,  to  my  mind,  the 
apprehension  which  some  have  pretended  to  entertain 
that  a  closer  union  between  the  objects  of  the  univer 
sity  education  and  the  occupation  to  be  followed  in 
after  life  will  deprive  the  graduate  of  any  element  of 


LELAND  STANFORD.  229 

>rsonal  refinement  or  finish  of  scholarship  is  not  well 
mnded. 

"And,  again,  a  large  part  of  human  wants  is 
aesthetic  wants.  It  takes  very  little  of  the  earth's 
products  to  feed,  clothe  and  house  a  man.  The 
greater  part  of  his  wants  are  intellectual.  They  may 
be  falsely  so,  but  still  they  cannot  be  classified  under 
food,  raiment  and  the  roof  overhead. 

''In  no  country  in  the  world  is  there  so  great  a  pro 
duction  in  proportion  to  population  as  in  California. 
By  the  census  of  1880  it  was  shown  that  100,000 
sou}s  — men,  women  and  children — were  engaged  in 
agriculture.  A  liberal  estimate  will  allow  only  one 
actual  worker  to  five  dependants,  which  would  make 
20,000  laborers  or  workers  in  the  field.  Now  in  1880 
there  was  produced  enough  wheat  for  the  entire 
population  of  700,000  or  thereabouts,  and  for  11,000,- 
000  besides. 

"  This  surplus  represents  wealth,  which  comes  back 
to  us  in  objects  of  intellectual  desire.  I  have  thought 
a  great  deal  on  this  subject,  arid  perhaps  much  in  a 
beaten  way.  It  is  a  truism  that  the  civilization  of  the 
world  is  based  upon  the  things  of  thought.  But  I 
have  been  impelled  to  a  practical  application  of  this 
well-accepted  principle.  I  do  not  know  exactly  what 
may  be  the  objects  of  speculation,  inquiry,  investiga 
tion,  scientific  pursuit,  artistic  creation  or  logical 
analysis  which  shall  interest  the  future  students  of 
the  university,  the  foundations  of  which  I  have  ven 
tured  to  lay.  I  do  not  presume  to  define  the  chan 
nels  of  thought  a  great  intellectual  movement  shall 
take.  I  leave  the  tendency  to  be  determined  by  the 
progressive  desire  of  those  who  shall  come  after  me, 
and  of  those  who  are  now  growing  up  around  me. 

"  Of  one  thing  only  I  am  certain :  centres  ol 
thought  are  a  necessity  in  civilized  communities. 
With  the  production  of  wealth  comes  the  leisure  to 
think,  and  no  people  is  really  great  which  is  not  a 
thinking  people.  The  Stanford  university  will  have 


230  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

the  usual  departments  of  the  ordinary  seminaries  of 
learning.  I  may  mention  it  as  a  sort  of  specialty,  an 
agricultural  department  in  which  I  have  great  hopes. 
There  are  7,000  acres  at  Palo  Alto  and  therefore 
there  is  an  ample  field  for  experimental  agricultural 
work. 

"  There  is  a  great  need  of  scientific  knowledge  in 
the  agriculture  of  this  state.  Production  has  hith 
erto  been  so  easy  that  this  fact  has  not  been  suffi 
ciently  realized.  I  do  not4  know  whether  you  can 
make  perfect  farmers  at  an  agricultural  college,  but 
much  would  be  gained  if  some  perception  of  the 
necessity  of  economic  processes  shall  get  abroad. 

''I  do  not  refer  so  much  to  the  chemistry  of  farm 
ing  ;  there  is  room  for  a  great  deal  of  visionary  work 
here ;  but  educated  men,  I  do  not  care  how  or  where 
they  are  educated,  learn  to  use  their  minds. 

"Take  the  simple  act  of  plowing:  perfect  plowing 
results  in  a  fine  subdivision  of  earth.  If  you  plow 
when  the  ground  is  too  hard,  you  are  rewarded  with 
lumps  that  are  of  no  more  use  than  stories;  if  you 
plow  when  the  ground  is  too  wet,  you  again  leave 
lumps  of  earth  which  are  equally  useless.  This  is  a 
very  plain  proposition,  but  it  is  a  consistent  regard 
for  the  simplest  laws  of  nature  that  brings  about  suc 
cess.  I  believe  in  education,  even  for  farmers. 

"  Some  day  you  will  see  Palo  Alto  blooming  with 
nearly  all  the  flowers  of  earth,  and  the  fruit  and  shade 
trees  of  every  zone.  We  have  a  superb  climate  for 
the  production  of  fruit.  Fruit  in  this  state  reaches 
maturity  easily,  and  in  a  greater  state  of  perfection 
than  elsewhere.  The  long,  dry  summers  and  equable 
heat  are  a  great  advantage  in  the  chemistry  of 
nature.  In  the  future  we  shall  can  this  fruit  and 
send  it  all  over  the  globe  in  exchange  for  wealth, 
which  shall  build  us  monuments  of  art  and  bestow 
upon  us  those  luxuries  which  God  has  intended  we 
should  enjoy.  There  will  be  a  school  of  technical 
arts,  and  the  want  of  such  an  institution  is  widely 


LELAND  STANFORD.  231 

It.  Skilled  workmanship  is  the  basis  upon  which 
all  the  arts  of  civilized  life  depend.  Without  skilled 
workmanship  we  cannot  have  true  art ;  for  the  hon 
esty  of  good  work  is  necessary  to  the  health  of  fine 
arts. 

"  I  trust  my  laboring  friends  will  not  construe  this 
department  of  technical  arts  as  an  interference  in 
their  view  of  the  laboring  question.  The  union  rules 
preventing  the  employment  of  many  apprentices,  it 
seems  to  me,  makes  way  for  such  a  department  as  the 
new  university  will  provide. 

"  There  will  not  be  a  museum  of  fine  arts  attached 
directly  to  the  university.  Mrs  Stanford  and  myself 
have  determined  to  locate  this  museum  in  San  Fran 
cisco.  We  are  especially  in  need  of  art  culture  and 
a  love  of  the  beautiful  in  nature  and  in  life.  Now  we 
are  of  a  material  race,  prizing  what  we  own  ;  only  priz 
ing  it  because  we  ownit.  We  should  be  able  to  enjoy 
our  beautiful  scenery  and  our  public  buildings,  when 
we  shall  have  them  worthy  of  admiration,  just  as 
much  as  if  it  were  all  our  property.  The  land  in 
time  will  be  greatly  subdivided,  but  nevertheless  we 
should  be  able  to  keenly  enjoy  whatever  we  see 
around  us  that  appeals  to  the  eye  of  taste. 

"  However,  as  I  have  said,  the  museum  of  fine 
arts  will  not  be  located  at  Palo  Alto. 

"  There  will  be  no  peddling  of  religious  dogmas,  or 
at  least  I  hope  there  will  not  be,  but  a  reverent  spirit 
of  religion,  which  acknowledges  the  creator,  the 
glory  of  his  works,  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

"  We  shall  begin  hauling  lumber  and  laying  the 
foundation  of  the  quadrangle  as  soon  as  the  plans  are 
accepted  in  every  detail.  When  I  suggested  to  Mr 
Olmstead  an  adaptation  of  the  adobe  building  of  Cal 
ifornia,  with  some  higher  form  of  architecture,  he 
was  greatly  pleased  with  the  idea,  and  my  Boston 
architects  have  skillfully  carried  out  the  idea,  really 
creating  for  the  first  time  an  architecture  distinctly 
Californiaii  in  character. 


232  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

"  The  porticos  will  give  shade  and  protection  to  the 
students  who  may  walk  under  them,  and  the  sun  and 
light  playing  among  the  buildings  will  give  health  to 
the  body,  and,  I  hope,  a  quickening  impulse  to  the 
intellectual  faculties.  However,  I  do  not  trust  so 
much  to  any  provision  of  mine,  as  I  have  confidence 
in  the  future  of  the  state,  and  in  our  honest  and  intel 
ligent  population. 

"  A  university,  like  a  tree,  is  planted  in  the  soil  to 
grow  at  first  unseen.  I  shall  hope  for  a  natural  pro 
cess.  It  shall  not  be  my  fault  if  the  growth  of  the 
university  be  not  slow,  gradual,  and  steady." 

The  estates  in  the  original  grant,  together  with  a 
cash  endowment,  aggregated  twenty  millions  of  dol 
lars.  To  this  the  grantors  will  undoubtedly  add  at 
some  future  time.  Thus  property  and  revenue  will 
increase  until  the  wealth  of  this  university  will  not  be 
equaled  by  any  institution  of  learning  in  the  world. 
None  ever  had  such  a  beginning,  and  not  one  in 
America  can  show  any  approximation  to  it,  the  two 
nearest  to  it  being  Columbia  College,  with  a  fund 
of  $4,680,000,  and  Harvard,  with  about  $4,500,000. 
The  university  at  Palo  Alto  will  begin  with  an  endow 
ment  of  about  $20,000,000. 

Nature  had  done  what  she  could  at  Palo  Alto  to 
assist  the  owner  in  his  beneficent  designs.  Between 
the  coast  hills  and  the  bay  is  a  beautiful  stretch  of 
undulating  land,  a  most  charming  location,  in  the 
midst  of  which  is  the  valley  of  the  San  Francisquita, 
with  its  evergreen  shrubs  and  aromatic  air  such  as 

O 

are  found  only  in  California.  Wide  avenues  are  laid 
in  concrete,  and  lined  with  trees,  throwing  a  cooling 
shade  over  benches  placed  at  intervals  for  the  benefit 
of  pedestrians  and  students,  with  here  and  there 
yet  more  widely  extended  groves  of  dark  green  foli 
age,  cooling  the  elastic  air,  and  shedding  their  fra 
grance  on  the  fragrant  deeds  of  man ;  and  beyond 
the  groves,  over  toward  the  end  of  the  avenue,  is  the 
burial-ground  of  the  benefactors,  the  variegated 


LELAND  STANFORD.  233 

marble  marking  the  spot  which  is  to  be  their  last 
resting-place. 

The  buildings  of  the  institution  are  picturesque  in 
appearance  and  unique  in  architecture,  being  a  modi 
fication  of  the  Mexican  or  Spanish,  and,  as  applied  to 
seminaries  of  learning,  essentially  original  and  Cali- 
fornian.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  the  14th  of 
May  1887,  and  the  work  progressed  steadily  from 
that  time.  Approaching  the  university  from  the 
north  by  a  broad  avenue,  the  visitor's  attention  is 
attracted  by  the  memorial  arch,  spanning  the  roadway 
and  forming  the  central  feature  of  the  facade.  The 
crowning  parapet  rises  to  a  height  of  85  feet  above 
the  adjacent  ground  and  commands  a  spacious  out 
look,  from  which  he  sees  the  panorama  of  the  uni 
versity  laid  out  before  him.  The  arch,  semi-circular 
in  form,  from  pier  to  pier,  spans  46  feet ;  a  sculptured 
frieze,  carved  in  alto  relievo  with  figures  of  heroic 

7  O 

size,  bears  witness  to  California's  triumphs  in  the  past 
and  foreshadows  the  glories  of  the  future — triumphs 
achieved  by  practical  labor,  and  prophecies  of  glories 
to  be  obtained  through  the  instrumentality  of  practi 
cal  education.  To  the  right  and  left  of  the  memorial 
arch  extend  buildings  devoted  to  the  library  and  the 
museums  of  art  and  natural  history.  Along  the 
whole  length  of  these  buildings,  a  distance  of  nearly 
1,000  feet,  runs  an  arcade  forming  a  chain  of  arches 
which  bind  the  buildings  together. 

Through  the  vista  of  the  memorial  arch  appear  the 
front  and  towers  of  the  church,  occupying  the  centre 
of  one  of  the  longer  sides  of  the  central  quadrangle. 
This  quadrangle,  an  open  space  of  586  feet  by  246 
feet,  is  completely  surrounded  by  an  arcade  similar 
to  the  one  in  front  of  the  museums,  and  gives  access 
to  the  various  class  buildings,  twelve  in  number, 
opening  from  its  shaded  depths.  These  arcades  form 
the  circulatory  system  of  the  university  ;  lying  on  the 
outside  of  the  interior  group,  connected  by  cross 
arcades,  they  form  a  complete  and  covered  pathway, 


234  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

a  royal  road  to  learning,  destined  to  be  trodden  by 
future  sovereigns  of  mental  and  manual  labor.  Out 
side  of  the  twelve  class  buildings,  immediately  sur 
rounding  the  central  quadrangle,  there  are  fourteen 
others  connected  by  the  exterior  arcade.  All  of  the 
class  buildings  are  one  story  in  height,  with  sand 
stone  walls  and  red  tiled  roofs.  The  sandstone  is 
from  a  quarry  near  San  Jose,  and  is  of  a  light  yellow 
color. 

Three  arched  entrances,  flanked  by  double  columns, 
with  carved  capitals,  and  with  voussoirs  moulded, 
pierce  the  lower  part  of  the  gable  wall  of  the  church 
and  give  access  to  the  sanctuary ;  a  carved  rose  win 
dow  and  three  small  arched  windows  on  either  side 
light  the  upper  portion,  and  are  supported  by  a  cor 
belled  string  course.  A  heavy  coping,  terminated 
with  carving  at  the  eaves,  surmounts  the  wall. 

Behind,  on  either  hand,  rise  two  towers,  one  square, 
the  other  round  and  of  medium  height.  Beyond  the 
nave,  and  forming  the  intersection  of  the  nave,  tran 
sept  and  choir,  towers  the  central  spire,  about  130 
feet  high  and  40  feet  square  ;  at  the  other  corners 
the  round  towers,  terminated  by  conical  roofs  of  tile, 
group  gracefully  with  the  main  shaft,  whose  many- 
sided  roof  reaches  an  altitude  greater  than  any  other 
feature  of  the  university. 

The  central  quadrangle  is  the  typical  arrangement 
of  the  university,  the  land  in  the  direction  of  the 
longer  axis  being  reserved  for  future  growth  and 
extension  by  building  a  series  of  quadrangles,  of  which 
the  main  quadrangle  shall  be  the  centre.  Behind  the 
main  quadrangle  are  the  boiler-house,  with  a  stone 
chimney  120  feet  high,  the  engine-house,  and  a  work 
shop  nearly  200  feet  long.  These  are  of  the  same 
character  as  the  main  buildings,  stone  walls,  tile  roofs, 
and  one  story  in  height,  but  are  isolated,  and  not 
connected  by  arcades.  The  land  in  this  direction 
toward  the  south  is  reserved  for  additional  workshops, 
and  the  future  extension  of  the  industrial  department. 


LELAND  STANFORD.  235 

Fronting  on  the  various  avenues  which  centre  on  the 
memorial  arch  are  the  dormitories,  professors'  resi 
dences,  etc. 

The  floor  of  the  quadrangle  formed  by  the  buildings 
is  laid  of  concrete,  and  is  one  foot  lower  than  the  floor 
of  the  arcade.  In  the  quadrangle  is  an  enclosure  250 
by  60  feet,  having  eight  circular  beds,  50  feet  in 
diameter,  for  trees  and  flowers.  The  buildings  are 
exceedingly  substantial  and  fire-proof.  They  combine 
simplicity  and  utility,  with  no  attempt  at  display. 
To  prevent  the  heat  from  permeating  through  the 
roof,  air  spaces  are  constructed  ;  windows  are  abund 
ant  and  ventilation  thorough.  One  set  of  boilers 
heats  all  the  buildings  by  steam,  supplies  power  for 
the  machinery  of  the  workshops,  and  generates  elec 
tricity  for  lighting.  Drainage  pipes,  as  well  as  those 
for  heating  and  ventilating,  run  through  all  the 
buildings  without  disconnection.  At  the  two  ends 
of  the  quadrangle  the  buildings  are  in  size  70  by  40 
feet,  while  those  on  the  sides  are  from  70  to  110  by 
50  feet,  with  space  between,  and  room  for  ells  to  be 
added. 

At  the  four  corners  of  the  quadrangle  are  drinking- 
fountains,  built  into  the  corners  of  the  arcade,  and  at 
the  many  columns  which  support  the  arcade  are  places 
for  planting  vines  to  entwine  the  columns.  The  houses 
outside  of  the  parallelogram,  and  diagonally  from  one 
corner,  are  for  students,  each  of  a  size  to  accommodate 
ten  or  fifteen  persons  ;  and  from  the  other,  dwellings 
for  officers  of  the  institution,  professors  and  men 
of  letters ;  and  elsewhere,  workshops,  church,  and 
library  building,  the  last  three  stories  in  height. 
These  structures,  and  also  the  quadrangular  blocks  of 
buildings  may  be  increased  to  any  number  as  required. 
When  additional  quadrangles  are  thrown  round  the 
first  one,  the  portions  of  the  arcade  on  both  sides  of 
the  entrance  at  either  end  will  be  extended  to  the 
required  distance,  and  then  built  round  the  larger 
parallelogram ;  the  buildings,  however,  instead  of 


236  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

facing  toward  the  court  will  face  outward,  placing 
the  rear  portions  of  the  two  quadrangular  sets  of 
buildings  opposite  each  other.  The  buildings  of  the 
first  quadrangle  are  not  yet  all  erected.  The  archi 
tectural  plans  were  prepared  by  Shepley,  Ruthan,  and 
Coolidge,  of  Boston. 

The  memorial  church  is  cruciform  in  shape,  and 
accommodates  over  3,000  persons.  All  is  of  stone, 
walls,  roof,  and  tower,  with  the  exception  of  the  roof 
of  the  church  porch,  which  is  of  tiles.  Three  aisles 
extend  from  the  auditorium  to  a  large  vestibule  which 
opens  upon  the  arcade,  and  from  either  side  of  which 
stairs  lead  to  the  gallery.  The  pulpit  is  placed  by 
the  column  in  front  of  a  large  apse,  where  it  can  be 
seen  from  all  parts  of  the  church.  Opening  from  the 
apse,  one  on  either  side,  are  two  rooms,  one  of  which 
is  for  the  use  of  the  speaker,  the  other  serving  as  a 
rear  vestibule.  Over  the  arcade  extends  the  principal 
gable,  forming  a  gallery  for  the  organ.  The  floor  and 
finishing  work  are  of  wood,  the  ceiling  being  of  open 
timbers,  showing  the  trusses.  The  fundamental 
principles  of  religion  alone  are  here  to  be  taught,  the 
promulgation  of  creed  or  dogma  not  being  permitted 
within  these  walls. 

Such  was  the  evolution  of  this  institution,  as  accu 
rately  as  I  am  able  to  present  it  in  words.  The  main 
idea  is  a  training  school  for  manual  labor,  as  well  as 
for  intellectual  development.  There  is  no  enlarging 
or  strengthening  of  the  body  or  mind  except  through 
labor,  the  primeval  curse  afterward  distilled  to  sweet 
est  blessing.  As  Mrs.  Browning  says  : 

'*  Get  leave  to  work 

In  this  world,  'tis  the  best  you  can  get  at  all ; 
For  God,  in  cursing,  gives  us  better  gifts 
Than  men  in  benediction.     God  says  '  Sweat 
For  foreheads;'  men  say  'crowns/  and  so  we  are  crowned, 
Ay,  gashed  by  some  tormenting  circle  of  steel 
Which  snaps  with  a  secret  spring.     Get  work  ;  get  work ; 
Be  sure  'tis  better  than  what  you  work  to  get." 


LELAND  STANFORD.  237 

Therefore,  to  train  to  self-happiness  is  the  best  that 
man  can  do  ;  is  all  that  God  can  do,  with  the  redemp 
tion  of  the  race  planned  as  it  is.  Thus  the  engen 
dering  ideas  were  no  less  spiritual  than  material. 
Indiscriminate  gifts  to  the  poor,  or  to  some  already 
established  institution,  were  cold  charity  beside  this 
practical  dispensation. 

Mr  Stanford  has  great  hopes  from  the  university. 
Education  there  must  be  according  to  the  life  pur 
pose  of  the  pupils,  and  knowledge  must  be  so 
imparted  as  to  be  a  benefit  not  only  to  the  scholar  but 
to  his  fellow-man.  One  cannot  be  wealthy  when  all 
others  are  poor,  nor  learned  when  all  others  are  igno 
rant,  nor  virtuous  when  all  others  are  vicious.  Bene 
fits  to  be  real  must  be  reciprocal. 

From  this  spot,  where  are  brought  together  such 
limitless  educational  resources,  will  radiate  the  hap 
piest  influence  on  American  life  and  letters.  Learned 
men  from  every  quarter,  and  those  seeking  knowledge 
and  desiring  to  become  learned,  will  make  their  per 
manent  or  temporary  residence  in  this  quarter,  where 
they  will  find  at  hand  for  their  free  use  libraries, 
laboratories,  observatories,  museums,  galleries  of  art, 
school-shops  of  mechanical  labor  and  departments  of 
agricultural  instruction. 

Henceforth  to  the  end  of  time  will  centre  here  a 
wealth  of  human  interest  such  as  Cambridge  and 
Oxford  now  enjoy,  but  greatly  enlarged,  and  such  as 
will  forever  render  fascinating  to  the  reader  of  future 
ages  whatever  may  be  preserved  of  the  circumstances 
attending  its  founding,  unequaled  in  any  age  or  coun 
try,  no  less  by  reason  of  its  substantial  grandeur  than 
for  the  originality  of  its  conception  and  its  prophetic 
ideas.  It  will  forever  stand  out  as  a  notable  event  in 
the  history  of  human  progress,  the  broad  humanity 
of  its  founders  transcending  all  conventional  limits. 
Endowed  as  no  other  university  has  been,  situated  in 
one  of  the  favored  spots  of  earth,  planned  from  the 
beginning  to  educate  both  boys  and  girls  in  the  prac- 


238  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

tical  duties  of  life,  and  hampered  by  no  moss-covered 
prejudices  and  traditions,  it  requires  no  great  fore 
sight  to  anticipate  its  future  influence  and  usefulness, 
not  only  in  shaping  the  destinies  of  California,  but  as 
a  boon  to  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

Even  in  the  midst  of  a  civilization  pulsating  with 
the  generous  benefactions  of  noble-minded  men  the 
act  stands  out  as  phenomenal.  The  magnitude  of  the 
scheme,  the  broad  intelligence  which  fashioned  it,  and 
the  analytic  mind  which  completed  the  details,  no 
less  than  the  vast  wealth  devoted  to  its  consum 
mation,  fill  with  interest  and  admiration  scholars 
and  statesmen  throughout  the  world.  Nothing  like 
it  has  ever  been  done  before,  nothing  like  it,  perhaps, 
was  ever  dreamed  of. 

Says  Dr  Stebbins :  "  In  reading  the  grant  and  arti 
cles  of  organization  one  is  impressed  with  the  magni 
tude  of  the  scheme  and  the  liberality  of  idea  with  which 
it  is  projected.  The  university  includes  within  the 
scope  of  its  discipline  and  studies  every  possible  direc 
tion  of  human  thought  and  action,  from  agriculture 
and  m3chanic  art  to  the  highest  speculations  of  phi 
losophy  and  original  research  ;  and  all  the  helps  and 
opportunities  afforded  in  such  an  inclusive  and  uni 
versal  scheme  are  to  be  enjoyed  by  men  and  women 
alike.  The  university  is  to  be  an  epitome  of  the  uni 
verse.  The  scheme  could  have  originated  only  in  a 
mind  accustomed  to  great  transactions  and  large  views. 
If  Mr  Stanford's  activity  had  been  confined  to  the 
ordinary  methods  of  business  and  acquisition  it  may 
be  doubted  whether  his  mind  would  ever  have  con 
ceived  a  scheme  whose  boundaries  so  coincide  with 
the  rim  of  the  world  ;  or  if  his  life  were  prolonged 
to  the  mythic  period  of  the  patriarchal  time,  and  he 
had  been  three  hundred  years  instead  of  twenty-five 
in  acquiring  his  vast  estates,  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  his  imagination  would  have  retained  such 
elasticity.  There  is  something  in  it  as  you  look  at  it 
on  paper  or  the  landscape  or  in  the  heavens,  of  the 


LELAND  STANFORD.  239 

brilliancy  of  fortune,  or  a  challenge  to  providence. 
It  comes  as  easily  as  thunder  out  of  heaven,  or  as  the 
ocean  bears  the  ships,  or  as  a  train  goes  through  the 
heart  of  a  mountain.  The  plan  bears  the  impression 
of  the  projector's  mind,  his  experience,  his  discipline, 
his  way  of  doing  things.  Not  that  there  is  any  haste 
or  frivolity  in  handling  weighty  matters,  for  there  is 
none,  but  a  kind  of  never-in-a-hurry  magnificence  of 
decision.  The  great  foundation  bears  the  marks  of 
the  personality  of  the  founder." 

We  might  here  ask,  for  what  great  era  of  progress, 
for  what  great  awakening  of  intellect,  for  what  great 
exaltation  of  the  soul  of  humanity,  was  this  new 
school  of  mental  and  manual  development  planted  ? 
For  upon  these  shores  we  may  reasonably  look  in 
due  time  for  things  transcendental.  In  Greece  there 
were  great  things  once — great  men  and  gods.  Where 
are  they  now  ?  Likewise  in  Egypt  and  in  Rome. 
These,  too,  are  of  the  past.  Six  thousand  years,  let 
us  say,  civilization  has  been  occupied  in  slowly  work 
ing  its  way  westward  from  its  Armenian  cradle  along 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  to  western  Europe, 
then  across  the  Sea  of  Darkness,  and  then  across  the 
continent  to  this  bay  of  San  Francisco,  where  it  faces 
from  across  the  ocean  the  less  pellucid  eastward  cur 
rent  flowing  from  the  same  source.  Here  the  stream 
must  stop.  There  is  no  further  west,  and  the  old 
east  is  dead.  What  is  the  race  to  do?  Die  here 
also,  perhaps,  its  days  being  numbered.  But  before 
its  decease  desperate  efforts  will  be  made  to  solve  a 
few  more  problems,  and  who  knows  with  what  result? 
Who  knows  what  figure  the  Leland  Stanford  Junior 
University  will  cut  in  the  great  unfolding  of  our  latter- 
day  creation  ?  It  is  idle  to  talk  of  the  impossible. 
Nothing  before  us  is  more  impossible  of  achievement 
than  the  impossibilities,  or  what  were  deemed  impos 
sibilities,  that  have  been  already  achieved. 

And  from  the  near  or  far  away  kingdom  of  the 
eternal,  father,  mother,  son,  what  shall  the  spirits  of 


240  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

these  benefactors  behold  ?  Let  the  imagination  glance 
down  the  vista  of  time,  along  the  highways  of  evolu 
tion  leading  heavenward,  the  glories  and  perfections 
of  which  the  mind  of  man  cannot  conceive,  and  even 
with  our  poor,  blinded  gaze  we  may  see  some  of  the 
outcomings  of  this  great  university,  a  hundred  or  a 
thousand  years  hence,  as  the  purposes  of  the  founders 
become  more  and  more  developed  under  the  fostering 
care  of  new  golden  ages. 

Calm  and  restful,  yet  breathing  of  thoughtful 
energy  under  the  soft,  warm  sky  of  California,  the 
hills  and  vales  of  Palo  Alto  appear  overspread  with 
human  habitations,  halls  of  learning,  and  busy  hives 
of  industry.  A  city,  and  yet  a  suburb  ;  for  the  great 
commercial  metropolis  of  the  coast  has  thickly  scat 
tered  its  population  hitherward,  and  but  for  the 
marked  change  in  aim  and  occupation  here  encoun 
tered  all  might  be  regarded  as  one.  These  distin 
guishing  characteristics,  however,  are  as  pronounced 
as  one  would  find  on  entering  another  world. 

It  is  the  seat  of  intellectual  culture  and  social 
refinement,  the  seat  of  fine  and  useful  arts,  of  agri 
cultural  and  mechanical  improvements ;  in  a  word, 
the  seat  of  a  scholastic  population,  of  skilled  artisans 
and  skilled  occupations,  the  heart  of  a  new  civilization. 

Hundreds  of  buildings,  quadrangular  in  arrange 
ment  and  otherwise,  quadrangles  round  quadrangles, 
and  hundreds  more  scattered  beyond  and  around,  inter 
spersed  with  shady  groves  and  grassy  parks,  and  clean 
white  walks  and  boulevards.  There  are  the  great  halls 
of  learning,  the  students'  quarters,  the  professors'  quar 
ters,  churches,  library  buildings,  museums,  art  gal 
leries,  halls  for  study  and  recitation,  from  the  lecture 
room  to  the  kindergarten ;  also  dwelling-houses  and 
workshops  without  number.  Farther  away  large 
manufacturing  interests  have  sprung  up,  surrounded 
by  corresponding  industrial  communities;  while  broad 
tracts  of  land  are  cultivated  upon  the  latest  principles 
approved  by  science.  Wandering  hither  and  thither, 


LELAND  STANFORD.  241 

the  scattered  throng  smile  their  approval  on  uplifting 
effort,  and  aid  alike  by  counsel  and  example.  From 
among  these  and  other  multitudes,  who  to  the 
mechanics  of  mind  would  join  the  mechanics  of 
muscle,  for  the  more  material  battles  of  life  and  for 
further  triumphs  over  nature,  laboring  alike  in  the 
schools  and  in  the  workshops,  in  the  art  gallery  and 
in  the  wheat-field— from  among  them  all  shall  issue 
forth  in  endless  procession  generations  of  improved 
and  cultured  humanity,  with  now  and  then  specimens 
of  highest  genius,  such  as  the  world  has  never 
dreamed  of,  the  children  of  earth  walking  near  the 
gods  in  the  sublimity  of  innate  ideas  and  rectitude  of 
action,  here  a  playwright  Shakespeare,  a  ploughboy 
Burns,  a  poor  blind  Milton ;  there,  as  among  the 
classic  groves  of  Athens,  a  Pisistratus  or  a  Plato. 

And  yet  again,  we  might  ask  what  cometh  forth 
from  all  this.  Tongue  cannot  tell.  Prophets  of  all 
improvements  and  high  priests  of  all  professions.  Of 
the  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  aspiring 
youths  who  century  after  century  will  come  hither 
to  exercise  their  several  faculties  in  the  mental  and 
mechanical  gymnasiums  here  provided,  and  gather 
knowledge  from  the  constantly  increasing  accumula 
tions  in  the  storehouses  here  established,  some,  per 
haps  to  their  own  astonishment,  will  find  themselves 
possessed  of  talents  for  this  occupation  or  that,  some 
few,  it  may  be,  of  marvellous  genius,  for  who  shall 
say  that  the  intellect  of  man  has  reached  its  highest 
development  ?  Among  the  multitudes  who  study  in 
these  quadrangular  halls,  who  walk  these  arcades 
book  in  hand,  who  wander  among  the  groves  of  learn 
ing  and  around  the  monuments  embowered  in  never- 
fading  foliage,  will  be  some  intent  only  on  selfish 
purposes,  some  on  angels'  missions,  with  peace  of 
mind  and  purity  of  soul,  professors  and  teachers 
mingling  with  latter-day  poets  and  philosophers,  a 
new  Homer  or  Goethe,  Copernicus  or  Bacon.  At 
any  time  during  all  these  centuries,  for  all  that  one 

C.  B.— II.     16 


242  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

may  know,  may  be  yonder  in  the  laboratory  a  young 
Tyndall,  working  his  way  upward  by  independent 
observation,  or  out  upon  the  hillside  a  second  Herbert 
Spencer,  absorbing  all  learning  and  assimilating  all 
knowledge ;  while  on  the  other  hand  we  have  a 
would-be  Michael  Angelo,  who  is  finally  sent  to 
superintend  the  farm,  or  a  vain-glorious  street  debater 
and  philosopher,  who  turns  out  neither  saint  nor  Soc 
rates.  Thrice  happy  spot,  mid  whose  groves  the 
gods  might  deign  to  linger,  and  listen  to  the  marvellous 
revelations  of  these  new-made  men  I 

And  now  from  the  university  at  Palo  Alto  let  us 
turn  to  the  Palo  Alto  farm.  For  Governor  Stanford 
farming  and  farm  life  had  ever  the  strongest  attrac 
tions,  and  with  all  his  other  endowments  he  is  a  nat 
ural  born  agriculturist.  While  passing  through  the 
country  he  will  discuss  for  hours  configuration  and 
climate,  ploughing,  seeding,  and  harvesting,  adaptation 
of  plants  to  soil,  and  rotation  of  crops.  At  the  close 
of  some  remarks  made  by  the  governor  before  the 
state  agricultural  society  in  1863,  Thomas  Starr 
King,  who  was  on  the  platform,  said  :  "  It  is  the 
most  thoughtful  and  instructive  agricultural  address 
I  ever  listened  to." 

When  in  his  New  York  office  the  directory  man 
came  in  one  day  and  asked  him,  among  other  things, 
his  occupation.  "Well,  I  think  you  can  put  me 
down  as  a  farmer,"  was  the  reply.  And  a  farmer, 
indeed,  he  is,  with  all  the  true  farmer's  fondness 
for  animals,  and  especially  for  horses.  It  is  said  that 
when  driving  about  his  lands  he  can  see  more  in  a 
day  than  another  would  see  in  a  week.  Passing  over 
the  fields  he  sees  in  a  moment  whether  they  have 
been  sufficiently  ploughed  and  the  crops  planted  deep 
enough ;  he  observes  where  alfalfa  should  be  sown  ; 
up  on  the  hillsides  he  finds  a  new  place  for  vines  ;  and 
as  he  wanders  around  his  orchard  he  can  tell  at  a 
glance  whether  the  trees  are  properly  trimmed. 


LELAND  STANFORD.  243 

The  love  of  animals  and  a  delight  in  farm  life  are 
characteristics  often  found  in  prominent  men.  Daniel 
Webster,  for  instance,  took  great  pleasure  in  his  fine 
cattle  at  Marshfield,  rising  early  to  feed  them,  and 
having  them  brought  to  his  window  during  his  last 
sickness.  So  with  Mr  Stanford,  who  is  never  more 
happy  than  when  among  his  handsome  and  blooded 
horses,  taking  note  of  their  good  points  and  watching 
their  unfolding  qualities. 

Says  one  of  his  intimate  friends  :  "  The  reason  of 
his  turning  his  attention  to  the  improvement  of  horses 
is  simply  this :  His  health  was  failing,  and  his  physi 
cians  recommended  plenty  of  open  air  exercise,  but 
without  fatiguing  himself,  and,  of  course,  the  only 
thing  he  could  do  was  to  drive.  Previous  to  this  he 
had  taken  no  particular  interest  in  horses,  except  that 
he  was  always  fond  of  driving  a  fast  team.  One  day, 
when  driving  on  the  Sacramento  race-track,  he  saw 
the  horse  Occident,  and  bought  him.  He  then  began 
to  study  over  the  matter  of  horses  generally,  and 
finally  concluded  that  he  would  raise  horses.  When 
he  started  his  stable  he  said  to  his  foreman  :  '  I  am 
going  into  the  business  of  horse-raising — not  to  make 
money  out  of  them,  nor  to  sell,  and  unless  we  can 
make  our  horses  better  than  other  horses,  I  don't 
want  to  raise  any.  My  purpose  is  to  excel.  Now  the 
way  to  do  that  is  to  give  a  little  more  attention  to  the 
business  than  others  do ;  to  give  it  more  study  and 
thought ;  give  a  little  more  care  and  labor  than  others 
have  heretofore  given,  or  are  now  giving  to  the  same 
thing ;  and  if  we  do  that,  then  we  will  get  better 
horses  than  they  are  able  to  get."  He  started  in  the 
business  on  that  basis. 

"  He  has  employed  about  his  stable  thirty  or  more 
boys  and  as  many  men,  and  yet  everything  is  as  quiet 
and  orderly  as  at  a  church.  No  loud  talking,  no  swear 
ing,  no  harsh  language,  no  scolding  or  whipping  horses. 
The  strictest  laws  of  kindness  are  as  strictly  enforced. 
The  result  is,  Governor  Stanford's  horses  and  colts, 


244  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

from  the  oldest  to  the  youngest,  are  utterly  void  of 
fear,  and  are  docile  and  affectionate.  Go  into  the 
corral  and  these  colts  will  surround  you,  put  their 
heads  on  your  shoulder,  stretch  out  their  noses  to  be 
fondled,  and  will  play  with  you  like  little  children. 
The  superior  mind  of  this  man  has  subdued  the  very 
nature  of  his  employes,  and  through  them  acts  upon 
the  animal  creation  by  the  great  law  of  kindness. 
What  a  school  for  all  horsemen  to  attend,  and  learn 
the  principles  of  kindness  and  care  in  the  management 
of  horses  I" 

Though  a  breeder  of  racing  stock,  Mr  Stanford 
never  ran  horses  for  money.  The  state  agricultural 
society  offered  plate  to  the  value  of  $2,000  to  the 
owner  of  any  horse  which  would  equal  the  fastest 
time  ever  made  in  America.  It  was  won  by  Mr 
Stanford's  Occident ;  but  he  immediately  returned 
the  plate  to  the  society,  to  be  presented  to  any 
one  who  should  equal  Occident's  time.  He  judges 
a  horse  largely  by  his  head,  which  is  the  first  point 
that  he  examines.'  After  a  few  weeks'  absence,  dur 
ing  which  fifty  new  colts  may  have  arrived,  he  will 
tell  them  off  accurately  one  after  another;  "  This  is 
a  fine  one  ;  that  one  is  not  so  good,"  etc.  He  is  an 
excellent  judge  of  form  in  horses.  Once  in  Paris  he 
said  to  Meissonnier,  when  examining  a  $250,000 
painting  by  that  great  artist,  "Your  horse  is  wrong  ; 
were  the  animal  really  to  take  that  posture  it  would 
break  its  back.  The  artist  threw  up  his  hands  in 
horror.  No  one  had  ever  told  him  he  was  wrong 
before.  "  You  will  have  to  prove  that  to  me,"  he 
exclaimed.  And  Mr  Stanford  finally  convinced  him 
that  the  horse  must  fall  if  it  continued  to  run  in  that 
position.  Meissonnier  declared  that  he  would  never 
paint  another  horse. 

Mr  Stanford  is  entirely  familiar  with  the  anatomy 
of  the  horse  and  the  science  of  breeding  ;  indeed,  in 
the  matters  of  form  and  anatomical  proportions  in 
the  trotter,  there  is  no  one  whose  judgment  is  more 


LELAND  STANFORD.  245 

accurately  confirmed  by  the  subsequent  action  of  the 
animal.  The  Palo  Alto  stud  was  a  success  from  the 
beginning,  and  its  history  with  regard  to  the  breed 
ing  of  horses  is  almost  unparalleled.  In  the  early 
days  of  trotting  little  attention  was  paid  to  blood  or 
breeding  ;  little  was  known  of  the  ancestry  even  of 
celebrities,  owners  and  drivers  regarding  this  as  of 
small  moment.  They  observed,  it  is  true,  that  the 
progeny  of  some  horses  proved  faster  in  harness  than 
those  of  others,  but  the  very  fast  trotter  was  after  all, 
it  was  thought,  more  the  result  of  accident  than  of 
any  hereditary  qualities  which  might  be  cultivated, 
or  which  were  reducible  to  laws  and  principles. 

All  this  has  changed ;  and  nowhere  has  the  breed 
ing  of  trotting  horses  on  scientific  and  natural  princi 
ples  been  brought  so  near  a  state  of  perfection  as  at 
Palo  Alto.  Not  only  is  there  such  a  collection  of 
stallions  and  mares  as  was  never  before  seen  on  any 
stud  farm,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that,  with  money 
unlimited,  and  the  whole  world  outside  of  Palo  Alto 
from  which  to  select,  this  stud  of  blooded  trotting 
horses  could  not  be  equaled.  With  the  greatest  liv 
ing  sire  at  its  head,  seconded  by  stallions  which  rated 
by  form,  breeding  and  performance,  can  not  be 
matched,  and  with  hundreds  of  brood-mares  emi 
nently  qualified  to  be  mated  with  them,  what  more 
can  men  or  money  do  ? 

Mr  Stanford's  purpose  was  to  breed  to  a  class  of 
horses  which  would  constitute  a  distinctive  type,  and 
should  bear  strong  family  characteristics,  a  descrip 
tion  of  road  horses  better  than  yet  known ;  to  breed 
horses  which  should  trot  fast  because  it  was  their 
nature  to  trot — because  they  were  bred  to  trot.  He 
would  have  them  symmetrically  formed,  uniform  in 
color,  of  high  style  and  finish,  as  well  as  sound  ;  they 
should  possess  all  the  qualities  of  the  highly  bred 
race-horse,  and  the  essential  characteristics  of  a 
model  horse  for  road  use.  He  thought  that  thor 
oughbred  blood  could  be  used  to  make  the  trotter 


246  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

hardier,  and  to  give  him  better  legs  and  more  stam 
ina  and  courage,  and  make  him  stay  for  a  distance. 
Hitherto  a  brisk  quarter  might  be  driven  and  then 
the  horse  would  tire.  He  thought  that  from  thor 
oughbred  dams  the  desirable  qualities  of  the  race 
horse  might  be  got,  and  that  the  trotting  sire  would 
give  the  level  head  and  self-control  of  the  trotter  ; 
and  he  desired  also  to  educate  horses  without  the  use 
of  weights,  check,  martingale,  or  similar  devices. 

Other  original  ideas  Mr  Stanford  entertained  in 
regard  to  horses,  which  differed  from  the  views  of 
those  who  were  esteemed  as  among  the  best  trainers. 
They  were  entirely  the  outgrowth  of  his  own  obser 
vation,  never  having  been  suggested  to  him  by  any 
one.  The  practical  elucidation  of  his  theories  proved 
somewhat  expensive ;  but  he  paid  the  money  uncom 
plainingly,  and  solved  the  question  to  his  satisfaction. 

One  was  that  horses  could  be  made  to  trot  when 
young.  At  that  time  very  young  horses  were  seldom 
exercised  to  any  great  extent,  the  best  three-year-old 
record  being  2:30  or  2:32.  The  system  then  was  to 
speed  them  once  or  twice  a  week  and  jaunt  them  for 
eight  or  ten  miles  a  day.  Mr  Stanford  did  not  regard 
this  as  the  proper  method.  He  thought  the  interval 
between  exercise  too  long,  and  that  they  should  be 
sped  every  day  shorter  distances  ;  that  if  the  distances 
were  not  so  long  as  to  overtax  them,  it  stood  to  reason 
that  they  would  improve  much  more  when  exercised 
seven  times  than  once  a  week.  When  these  views 
were  presented  to  Mr  Marvin,  the  superintendent,  he 
did  not  think  it  could  be  done ;  nevertheless  he  was 
willing  to  try.  At  first  the  strain  was  too  severe,  and 
many  of  the  colts  were  for  the  moment  disabled  so 
that  they  could  not  trot  at  all.  It  took  time  to 
learn  how  to  train  according  to  the  new  plan ;  but 
the  theory  proved  correct,  as  is  now  fully  admitted  by 
those  best  qualified  to  judge. 

The  system  as  now  developed  is  to  begin  working 
the  colts  every  day  on  the  miniature  track,  at  about 


LELAND  STANFORD.  247 

the  age  of  seven  or  eight  months,  putting  ooots  on 
them,  and  then  turning  them  loose  to  drive  them 
around,  thus  teaching  them  how  to  trot.  When 
twelve  or  thirteen  months  old  they  are  broken,  and 
from  the  fourteenth  to  the  sixteenth  month  they  are 
exercised,  each  according  to  his  powers  of  endurance, 
but  never  so  as  to  tire  them.  Thus,  by  never  driving 
them  to  exhaustion,  all  danger  is  avoided  of  breaking 
them  down.  In  this  manner  they  acquire  a  little 
additional  speed  every  day,  with  the  least  possible 
chance  of  injury. 

Thousands  have  come  to  witness  this  system  of 
training  ;  but  few  have  adopted  it  thus  far,  for  the 
reason  that  it  requires  skill  and  experience,  without 
which  the  experiment  would  be  apt  to  prove  expens 
ive.  Some  at  the  east  are  attempting  it,  however, 
buildino-  covered  miniature  tracks  and  heating  them 
by  steam.  The  Palo  Alto  stable  stands  at  the  head 
in  colt  records  up  to  four  years  old. 

Another  and  twofold  conception  of  Mr  Stanford's, 
evolved  purely  from  his  own  thought  and  observation, 
was,  first,  that  when  a  horse  is  trotting  rapidly  he 
has  all  his  feet  off  from  the  ground  at  one  time,  and, 
second,  that  in  making  a  spring  it  is  done  with  the 
front  feet.  But  how  was  this  to  be  demonstrated  ? 
None  but  an  inventive  mind  could  hit  upon  the  novel 
device  which  finally  solved  the  problem.  Investiga 
tions  were  begun  in  1877.  Instantaneous  photogra 
phy  was  called  into  play,  and  after  spending  over  two 
years  in  time,  and  a  large  amount  of  money  on  exper- 
imentincr,  the  most  marvellous  results  were  obtained. 

O * 

Experiments  were  begun  at  Sacramento,  where 
Occident  was  photographed  ;  and  continued  at  Palo 
Alto,  whither  photographers  with  athletes  for  sub 
jects  were  brought  from  San  Francisco.  The  camera 
was  so  arranged  that  a  horse  at  full  run,  on  striking 
a  small  wire  communicating  with  the  apparatus,  would 
touch  it  off  and  an  instantaneous  picture  be  taken. 
So  with  men  jumping  over  a  bar,  who  struck  a  thread 


248  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

attached  to  the  camera,  a  picture  being  thus  taken  at 
the  instant  they  crossed  the  bar.  One  person  in  jump 
ing  over  a  bar  four  feet  from  the  ground  would  carry 
his  head  higher  than  others  in  jumping  a  bar  five  feet 
in  height.  Trained  athletes,  for  example,  would  jerk 
up  their  feet  as  they  were  going  over,  which  rendered 
it  unnecessary  to  throw  the  body  as  high  in  air  as  if 
the  legs  were  left  to  hang  straight  down.  Finally  it 
was  demonstrated  not  only  that  there  were  times 
when  the  horse,  in  fast  trotting,  had  all  its  feet  off 
the  ground  at  one  time,  but  it  was  proved  that  at 
such  time  the  back  of  the  animal  was  raised  no  higher 
in  consequence  ;  and  further,  that  the  horse  made  its 
spring  with  the  front  feet. 

At  Palo  Alto  was  a  pacing  horse  which  would 
over-speed,  and  a  track  was  made  specially  for  photo 
graphing  this  animal.  The  thread  was  so  arranged 
that  just  at  the  moment  when  he  settled  into  his  best 
gait  he  would  touch  the  camera  off  and  it  would  pho 
tograph  him.  The  horse,  irritated  by  the  string 
striking  him  on  the  breast,  would  break  into  a  flying 
leap,  and  the  picture  looked  as  if  he  were  flying. 
Thus  when  about  in  mid-air  the  picture  would  be 
taken. 

In  1882  was  published  in  Boston  an  illustrated 
quarto  volume  of  127  numbered  pages,  entitled,  The 
Horse  in  Motion,  as  shown  by  Instantaneous  Photography, 
with  a  study  of  Animal  Mechanics,  founded  on  Anatomy 
and  the  Revelations  of  the  Camera,  in  which  is  Demon 
strated  the  theory  of  Quadrupedal  Locomotion.  By  J.  D. 
B.  Stillman.  Executed  and  published  under  the  auspices 
of  Leland  Stanford, 

In  the  preface  Mr  Stanford  says :  "  I  have  for  a 
long  time  entertained  the  opinion  that  the  accepted 
theory  of  the  relative  positions  of  the  feet  of  horses 
in  rapid  motion  was  erroneous.  I  also  believed  that 
the  camera  could  be  utilized  to  demonstrate  that  fact, 
and  by  instantaneous  pictures  show  the  actual  posi 
tion  of  the  limbs  at  each  instant  of  the  stride.  Under 


LELAND  STANFORD  249 

this  conviction  I  employed  Mr  Muybridge,  a  very 
skillful  photographer,  to  institute  a  series  of  experi 
ments  to  that  end.  Beginning  with  one,  the  number 
of  cameras  was  afterwards  increased  to  twenty-four, 
by  which  means  as  many  views  were  taken  of  the 
progressive  movements  of  the  horse.  The  time  occu 
pied  in  taking  each  of  these  views  is  calculated  to  be 
not  more  than  the  five-thousandth  part  of  a  second. 
The  method  adopted  is  described  in  the  appendix  to 
this  volume. 

"When  these  experiments  were  made  it  was  not 
contemplated  to  publish  the  results,  but  the  facts 
revealed  seemed  so  important  that  I  determined  to 
have  a  careful  analysis  made  of  them.  For  this  pur 
pose  it  was  necessary  to  review  the  whole  subject  of 
the  locomotive  machinery  of  the  horse.  I  employed 
Dr  J.  D.  B.  Stillman,  whom  I  believed  to  be  capable 
of  the  undertaking.  The  result  has  been  that  much 
instructive  information  on  the  mechanism  of  the  horse 
has  been  revealed,  which  is  believed  to  be  new  and 
of  sufficient  importance  to  be  preserved  and  published. 

"  TJie  Horse  in  Motion  is  the  title  chosen  for  the 
book,  for  the  reason  that  it  was  the  interest  felt  in 
the  action  of  that  animal  that  led  to  the  experiments, 
the  results  of  which  are  here  published,  though  the 
interest  awakened  led  to  similar  investigations  on  the 
paces  and  movements  of  other  animals.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  same  law  governs  the  movements  of 
most  other  quadrupeds,  and  that  it  must  be  deter 
mined  by  their  anatomical  structure.  The  facts 
demonstrated  cannot  fail,  it  would  seem,  to  modify 
the  opinions  generally  known  to  have  their  influence 
on  art." 

After  an  introductory  chapter,  the  horse  is  first 
considered  as  a  machine,  and  the  necessity  of  under 
standing  its  construction  explained.  After  the  gen 
eral  physiological  and  anatomical  facts,  and  the 
architectural  principles  involved  in  the  construction 
of  the  skeleton,  comes  a  description  of  the  joints,  the 


250  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

vertebrae,  cartilages,  ligaments,  muscles,  tendons,  and 
the  rest,  in  all  of  which  it  is  shown  how  utility  is 
made  to  conform  to  beauty.  Several  chapters  follow, 
showing  deep  research  and  a  profound  and  scientific 
knowledge  of  the  subject.  Then  in  the  last  chapter 
we  find  masterly  analyses  of  the  step,  stride,  trot,  run, 
single-foot,  and  leap,  followed  by  many  pages  of 
illustrations  of  the  paces.  This  chapter  I  give  here 
with  in  full. 

"  The  series  of  plates  which  follow  are  intended  to 
show  more  fully  than  was  possible  in  the  silhouettes 
that  precede  them,  the  action  of  the  horse  in  every 
possible  position  in  all  the  paces.  They  require, 
however,  a  brief  explanation. 

"  The  same  ground  was  used  as  that  on  which  all 
the  experiments  were  made  that  are  detailed  in  the 
appendix  ;  but  instead  of  a  full  battery  of  twenty-four 
cameras,  only  five  were  employed,  and  they  were 
arranged  in  the  manner  shown  in  plate  I.  One  only 
represented  the  battery,  and  that  was  in  the  middle 
of  the  series ;  the  other  four  were  placed  at  nearly 
equal  distances,  two  on  each  side,  so  as  to  represent 
the  arc  of  a  circle,  whose  centre  should  be  occupied 
by  the  horse  the  moment  he  appeared  opposite  the 
central  of  the  five  cameras.  At  this  point  a  thread 
was  drawn  across  the  track  which,  when  the  breast 
of  the  horse  came  in  contact  with  it,  made  magnetic 
communication  with  all  five  of  the  cameras  at  the 
same  instant,  so  that  five  views  of  the  animal  were 
produced  at  the  same  time,  showing  him  in  as  many 
different  directions. 

11  The  time  of  exposure  of  the  negatives  was  so 
immeasurably  small  that  few  of  the  pictures  taken 
were  perfect  in  all  the  details ;  and  as  red  appears  as 
blank  in  the  photograph,  so  all  bay  horses  were  with 
out  any  details  of  light  and  shade,  simply  as  silhou 
ettes  ;  and  even  when  the  horse  was  light  or  gray 
there  would  be  some  defect  in  some  part  of  every  one 
of  the  series. 


LELAND  STANFORD.  251 

"Experiments  were  made  with  various  processes 
to  reproduce  them  with  all  their  defects  ;  but  it  was 
found  that  the  making  of  the  necessary  transfers  from 
the  originals,  while  they  reproduced  accurately  all 
the  defects  of  the  original  photograph,  reproduced 
them  with  diminished  sharpness,  and  these  methods 
were  abandoned. 

"Under  the  direction  of  the  Heliotype  Printing 
company  another  was  adopted.  From  the  original 
photographs,  by  the  heliotype  process,  copies  were 
produced  on  gelatine  magnified,  and  prints  were  taken 
on  bristol  board  in  blue  ink,  in  the  same  manner  as 
in  the  ordinary  heliotype  process.  These  prints,  with 
the  originals,  were  put  into  the  hands  of  artists 
skilled  in  drawing  on  wood  for  engravers,  who  drew 
them  with  a  pen  in  India  ink,  under  careful  super 
vision  of  the  writer,  so  as  to  preserve  the  outlines  as 
they  were  rendered  by  the  camera  and  avoid  repro 
ducing  the  blotted  defects  of  the  originals.  These 
drawings  were  then  produced  on  stone  by  the  camera, 
reduced  to  their  original  size,  and  the  prints  given  in  the 
volume  were  printed  from  these  stones  as  in  ordinary 
lithography. 

'  They  cannot  fail  to  be  of  great  advantage  to 
artists,  especially  those  who  would  perfect  themselves 
in  animal  drawing,  and  that  acknowledged  difficult 
branch  of  their  art,  animals  in  motion. 

'  They  and  the  public  generally  are  greatly  indebted 
to  Mr  Leland  Stanford  for  the  enlightened  liberality 
with  which  he  has  pursued  this  costly  investigation, 
and  given  its  results  to  the  public  without  any  pecu 
niary  advantage  to  himself. 

"  It  will  be  observed  that  some  of  these  pictures 
are  so  nearly  alike  that  at  a  superficial  view  they 
appear  the  same  ;  but  it  is  almost  impossible  that  the 
times  in  which  any  two  should  be  photographed  should 
coincide,  and  there  will  be  found  no  two  exactly  alike  ; 
and  the  near  approach  to  the  same  posture  proves  the 
universality  of  the  law  in  which  all  the  paces  are  per- 


252  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

formed.  In  some  of  the  plates  there  are  but  four 
pictures ;  the  fifth,  owing  to  some  serious  defect  or 
failure  of  the  apparatus  altogether,  is  wanting. 

"  Plate  LVII  represents  a  position  in  the  run  corre 
sponding  with  that  in  fig.  2?  page  95,  differing  only  in 
the  fact  that  the  right  foreleg  is  performing  its  func 
tions  rather  than  the  left,  as  in  the  cut.  From  this 
extremity  the  body  will  be  projected  from  the  ground, 
and  the  diagonal  hind  is  advancing  to  the  support  of 
the  centre  of  gravity.  Comparing  this  with  plate 
LXV,  in  which  one  figure  is  wanting,  the  correspond 
ence  will  be  found  so  close  that,  at  first  sight,  it  is 
difficult  to  convince  one's  self  that  they  are  not  iden 
tical  pictures ;  but  on  careful  inspection  it  will  be 
perceived  that  in  the  quartette  the  body  is  less 
advanced,  and  the  supporting  leg  is  farther  from  the 
perpendicular.  The  missing  picture  should  be  the 
first  in  the  regular  order. 

"  Comparing  again  this  plate  with  plate  on,  the 
body  of  the  horse  will  be  found  to  have  advanced 
from  the  position  in  the  former  until  the  supporting 
leg  is  quite  perpendicular,  and  the  other  limbs  are 
relatively  advanced.  In  plate  civ  there  is  still 
further  advance ;  the  foot  is  under  the  centre  of 
gravity,  and  the  posterior  extremities  are  being  gath 
ered  under  the  body  in  the  order  with  which  they 
will  successively  take  their  turn. 

"  Plate  LXXVIII  exhibits  the  same  movement  on 
the  instant  that  the  propulsive  effort  of  the  limb  is 
concluded  and  the  foot  is  leaving  the  ground.  From 
this  last  position  there  is  an  interval  of  one-fifth  of  a 
stride,  in  which  there  is  no  support  given  to  the 
weight  of  the  body,  but  it  is  moving  as  a  projectile 
until  the  diagonal  hind  foot  reaches  the  ground,  which 
it  is  about  to  do  in  the  following  plate. 

"  The  left  hind  foot  will  be  the  first  to  make  the 
contact,  from  which  we  know  that  the  right  fore  foot 
was  the  one  by  which  the  body  had  been  projected 
into  the  air ;  the  right  hind  foot  will  follow  and  take 


LELAND  STANFORD.  253 

the  ground  a  step  farther  in  advance.  This  plate 
may  be  compared  with  LXX,  in  which  the  right  feet 
are  in  corresponding  positions  with  the  left,  as  seen 
in  the  former.  Plate  xc  represents  the  horse  in  a 
similar  position. 

"  The  slow  trot  is  shown  in  plate  LIX,  and  is  not 
distinguishable  from  the  fast  walk,  as  seen  in  the  suc 
ceeding  plate  ;  it  is  only  when  the  instant  of  exposure 
of  the  sensitive  plate  of  the  camera  is  coincident  with 
that  in  which  all  the  feet  are  off  the  ground  that  the 
walk  can  be  distinguished  from  the  slow  trot. 

"  Plate  LXI  is  also  an  attitude  of  the  trot,  but  it 
is  recognized  by  the  highest  action  of  the  free  limbs, 
and  this  action  indicates  a  higher  rate  of  speed  than  is 
possible  in  the  walk. 

"  In  the  succeeding  plate  the  walk  is  again  repre 
sented  and  is  unmistakable,  as  the  three  feet  are  sup 
porting  weight,  as  indicated  both  by  their  position 
and  the  yielding  of  the  pasterns. 

"In  plate  LXIII  we  see  the  sluggish  run,  in  which 
the  speed  or  momentum  of  the  horse  does  not  permit 
the  propulsion  of  the  fore  leg  to  carry  the  body  clear 
of  the  ground  before  the  hind  ones  come  to  the  sup 
port  of  the  center  of  gravity  prematurely,  and  which 
constitutes  the  pace  known  as  the  canter.  (See  page 
103.) 

"  The  fast  trot  is  shown  in  plate  LXVI.  It  seems 
to  be  a  fast  walk,  in  which  the  groom  is  urging  the 
horse  into  a  trot.  The  position  may  be  interpreted 
into  either  a  walk  or  a  trot. 

"  Plate  LXVII  represents  a  position  in  the  leap, 
and  is  fully  explained  in  the  sixth  chapter.  The  walk 
is  further  illustrated  in  the  two  following  plates.  In 
plate  LXXI  a  position  in  the  trot  is  shown  where  the 
feet  are  all  clear  of  the  ground.  Before  the  leg, 
which  is  extending  forward  to  reach  the  ground, 
makes  the  contact,  it  must  be  straightened  and  the 
toes  raised  as  in  plate  LXIV.  As  already  stated,  it 
is  difficult  in  some  of  the  illustrations  to  determine  a 


254  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

slow  trot  from  a  fast  walk,  for  there  may  be  an  instant 
of  time  in  the  trot  when  three  feet  are  on  the  ground. 
The  mechanical  action  is  the  same  in  both  paces,  and 
the  distinction  is  based  on  the  speed.  This  difficulty 
could  not  occur  where  the  reader  has  the  advantage 
of  a  consecutive  series  of  views  as  shown  in  plate  L. 

"The  heavy  Clydesdale  in  plate  LXXII  is  shown 
in  the  ambling  pace  in  which  the  weight  of  the  body 
is  borne,  and  the  propulsion  performed  by  the  two 
extremities  of  the  same  side.  The  canter  is  illus 
trated  in  plate  LXXVIII.  The  support  is  here  given 
by  the  left  fore  leg,  and  the  greater  flexion  of  the 
diagonal  right  indicates  that  it  is  the  next  in  order  to 
perform  that  function.  The  degree  of  action  indi 
cates  a  low  rate  of  speed,  which  could  be  attained  in 
the  trot  with  greater  ease  to  the  horse,  if  not  to  his 
rider.  Plate  LXXXI  represents  in  the  animal  in  the 
greatest  degree  of  extension  he  reaches  in  the  run. 
The  posterior  extremities  have  successively  performed 
their  functions  as  supporters  and  propellers,  the  ante 
rior  limbs  are  extended  to  relieve  them,  and  for  the 
instant  the  diagonal  feet  are  on  the  ground,  but  it  is 
only  for  an  instant ;  the  weight  of  the  body  is  already 
on  the  fore  leg,  and  the  only  propulsive  force  left  in 
the  hind  one  is  derived  from  the  reaction  of  the  sus 
pensory  ligament  and  its  reinforcing  tendons.  This 
position  nearly  corresponds  with  that  in  fig.  8,  page 
93,  though  a  little  in  advance  of  it. 

''Plate  LXXXV  illustrates  the  run  shown  in  fig.  10, 
page  95.  The  fore  leg  must  be  straight  from  the 
elbow  to  the  foot,  when  it  makes  contact  with  the 
ground,  as  only  in  that  relation  of  the  bones  forming 
columns  of  support  could  the  weight  suddenly  thrown 
upon  them  be  borne.  A  moment's  consideration  of 
the  mechanical  construction  of  the  knee-joint  will  suf 
fice  to  convince  one  of  this,  and  a  weakness  at  that 
point,  which  renders  the  animal  liable  to  stumble,  is 
a  very  serious  defect,  and  where  it  exists  it  indicates 
the  loss  of  the  balance  of  power  between  the  flexora 


LELAND  STANFORD.  255 

and  extensors  of  the  foot.  This  inflexible  position  of 
the  knee-joint  will  be  found  to  be  universal  in  all  the 
paces  when  the  limb  is  sustaining  weight." 

The  Palo  Alto  stock  farm  is  about  thirty  miles 
south  of  San  Francisco,  twenty-two  from  the  ocean 
and  three  from  the  bay.  It  extends  about  twelve 
miles  east  and  west  and  four  miles  north  and  south, 
and  is  covered  with  scattering  white  and  live  oak, 
blue  gum  and  pines.  The  general  slope  is  toward  the 
east,  without  any  great  elevations  or  rocky  tracts. 

At  the  entrance  to  the  park  and  grounds  of  the 
manor-house  or  private  residence,  about  a  mile  from 
Menlo  Park  station,  stands  the  palo  alto,  or  high  tree, 
after  a  somewhat  free  translation,  from  which  the 
place  derived  its  name.  Within,  nature  and  the  land 
scape  gardener  have  joined  their  powers  to  adorn  the 
spot,  and  paint  upon  it  a  most  beautiful  picture. 
Besides  the  shrubs  and  trees  indigenous  to  the  soil, 
here  are  found  in  luxurious  growth  those  of  foreign 
habitat — palms  from  China,  cedars  from  Japan,  the 
tropical  orange,  with  its  limbs  bending  under  the 
weight  of  golden  fruit,  together  with  plants  from  the 
Indies,  interspersed  with  beds  of  flowers  artistically 
arranged,  and  loading  the  soft  sweet  air  with  delicious 
fragrance. 

It  is  the  owner's  intention  that  the  park  and  grounds, 
comprising  299  acres,  shall  contain  every  known  spe 
cies  of  tree  adapted  to  this  climate,  and  of  late  12,000 
trees  were  added  to  the  already  large  collection  in  one 
year.  The  valleys  beyond  contain  the  richest  of 
farming  land,  adapted  especially  to  the  raising  of  bar 
ley,  while  the  foothills  afford  the  finest  wrild-oat  pas 
turage.  One  reservoir  has  been  constructed  with  a 
capacity  of  125,000,000  gallons,  and  another  planned 
to  hold  225,000,000  gallons.  There  is  also  an  artesian 
well  capable  of  furnishing  5,000  gallons  an  hour.  There 
are  about  5,000  acres  cultivated,  mostly  in  hay  and 
barley.  In  1887  there  were  raised  on  3,500  acres 
something  over  5,000  tons  of  hay,  20,000  sacks  of 


256  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

barley,  28,000  bales  of  straw,  besides  corn  and  carrots 
for  feed,  and  quantities  of  fruit ;  but,  notwithstanding 
this,  11,000  bushels  of  oats  had  to  be  purchased  else 
where. 

On  passing  out  of  the  home  grounds  you  turn  into 
a  broad,  straight,  macadamized  road,  running  south 
erly  between  rows  of  trees  to  the  trotting  stock  farm. 
Near  its  southern  terminus  this  straight  road  passes 
one  end  of  the  trotting  track,  and  beyond  are  the 
white  fences  of  the  paddocks.  On  the  tracks  horses 
are  moving,  the  drivers  in  sulkies  and  wagons.  A.cross 
the  tracks  the  buildings  of  the  farm  are  seen,  and  in 
a  moment  you  turn  to  the  right  and  drive  down  a 
straight  stretch  between  two  rows  of  paddocks,  see 
ing  more  men  and  meeting  horses  crossing  from  the 
the  stables  to  the  tracks,  or  going  the  other  way  with 
led  horses  walking  in  blankets.  Turn  to  the  right 
again  around  a  baby  track,  with  a  little  oblong  roof 
shelter  in  its  middle  for  the  observer  to  stand  under, 
and  you  are  in  front  of  the  office  which  is  the  head 
quarters  of  Charles  Marvin,  the  superintendent,  and 
L.  C.  Ferguson,  the  clerk  of  the  Palo  Alto  stock 
farm.  Near  the  office  are  the  reading-room,  the  bar 
ber  shop,  the  storehouse  and  the  mill. 

The  buildings,  being  constructed  for  the  special 
purposes  to  which  they  are  put,  are  admirably  adapted 
for  their  respective  uses.  South  of  one  of  the  small 
tracks,  and  near  the  office,  are  three  two-story  stables, 
forming  three  sides  of  a  square,  opening  toward  the 
small  track  and  not  far  from  the  two  large  ones.  The 
rest  of  the  buildings  for  stock  are  shed-barns  of  one 
story,  with  roofs  pitching  toward  the  rear,  and  room  for 
feed  above.  There  are  some  six  hundred  horses  to 
provide  for,  and  each  has  its  separate  stall.  The  trot 
ting; -stable  for  all  agres  is  150  feet  in  length,  north  and 

O  O  O  " 

south,  and  100  feet  in  width  along  the  center,  includ 
ing  the  T  projection  at  the  east.  It  has  twenty-six 
box -stalls,  each  twelve  by  fourteen  feet.  The  doors 
are  of  ample  width  to  admit  of  easy  driving  in  and 


LET. AND  STANFORD.  257 

out.  In  the  upper  story  is  the  hay  and  grain.  The 
only  furniture  in  the  stalls  is  a  galvanized  iron  feed- 
box,  which  can  be  taken  out  if  desired  when  the  horse 
has  finished  eating.  The  stalls  have  earth  bottoms. 
The  soil  is  clayey,  and  it  is  mixed  with  gravel  and 
tamped  down.  Slacked  lime  is  laid  on  the  bottom 
frequently.  The  horses'  bed  is  of  wheat  or  barley 
straw,  and  is  often  renewed  and  always  kept  clean. 
At  Palo  Alto  there  is  none  of  the  odor  usually  more 
or  less  noticeable  about  stables.  It  is  true  that  the 
Palo  Alto  stables  cover  so  much  ground  that  there  is 
abundant  opportunity  for  ventilation  ;  but  in  addition 
to  this  advantage  is  a  scrupulous  regard  for  cleanli 
ness  and  order  ;  and,  as  we  have  seen,  kindness  to 
animals  is  one  of  the  rules  of  the  place. 

Square  to  the  east  of  the  training-stable  for  all 
ages,  and  in  line  with  it  north  and  south,  is  the  colt 
stable,  filled  with  colts  to  break  and  train.  This  is  of 
the  same  dimensions  as  the  one  before  described, 
except  that  it  has  no  T  projection,  though  it  has  on 
its  west  side,  toward  the  training  stable,  a  projection 
that  is  bold  enough  to  break  what  would  otherwise 
be  a  monotonous  reach  of  150  feet  along  its  side.  On 
that  side  are  ten  box  stalls.  On  the  east  side  are 
thirty-one  stalls,  making  forty-one  in  the  stable. 

To  the  south,  and  facing  the  opening  between  the 
two  stables,  but  a  little  distance  from  them  and  not 
quite  long  enough  to  cover  the  space  between  them, 
is  another  two-story  barn,  100  feet  in  length  and  60 
feet  in  width.  Some  of  the  men  sleep  in  the  upper 
story  of  this  barn,  and  on  the  ground  floor  are  kept 
the  vehicles  used  in  training  and  speeding,  including 
about  thirty  sulkies  and  four  skeleton  wagons.  The 
stables  are  painted  brown  with  white  trimmings.  The 
shed-barns  are  white.  There  is  an  oak  tree  here 
and  there  about  the  stables  and  barns. 

The  smallest  of  the  shed-barns  has  four  stalls,  with 
Electioneer  in  one  end  and  Piedmont  in  the  other. 
Most  of  them  have  from  twenty -four  to  fifty  stalls, 


C.  B.— II.     17 


258  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

and  are  from  200  to  600  feet  in  length.  Some  are 
L-shaped,  facing  paddocks.  The  stock  farm  is  pro 
vided  with  everything  that  is  needed,  including  a 
blacksmith  shop,  a  wheelwright  shop,  and  a  mill  to 
grind  feed.  There  are  fifty  paddocks  of  three  acres 
each  for  grazing  purposes.  At  night  all  are  under 
shelter,  except  that  some  of  the  older  animals  are  left 
out  during  the  summer. 

Mr  Charles  Marvin,  superintendent  of  the  Palo  Alto 
stock  farm,  is  a  man  of  the  utmost  integrity  and  ability, 
and  of  wide  experience.  He  is  a  native  of  New  York 
state,  bat  spent  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  before 
coming  to  California,  in  Michigan,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and 
Colorado.  The  first  consignment  of  fine  horses  was 
purchased  during  the  winter  of  1877,  and  about  that 
time  Mr  Stanford  fortunately  secured  the  services  of 
Marvin,  who  had  acquired  distinction  by  training  and 
handling  the  great  horse  Smuggler.  Under  Mr  Mar 
vin's  successful  manipulation  he  made  a  record  of 
2:15^,  and  was  finally  sold  for  $40,000.  Mr  Marvin 
is  a  man  of  quiet  demeanor,  of  few  words,  in  disposi 
tion  thoughtful,  with  a  mind  fertile  in  expedients,  and 
domestic  in  his  tastes,  having  a  refined  and  educated 
wife,  a  lovely  family  of  children,  and  a  most  happy 
home.  He  is  a  great  worker,  breakfasting  before  five 
o'clock,  and  beginning  the  day's  duties  by  an  inspec 
tion  of  the  various  stables.  At  daybreak  work  on 
the  track  commences,  which  ordinarily  progresses  until 
2  P.  M.,  averaging  over  fifty  miles  each  day  in  the 
sulky.  Then  comes  the  grand  round  of  stables,  min 
iature  track,  paddocks,  bands  of  colts,  brood-mares, 
breaking-stables,  etc.,  nothing  escaping  his  eye.  Each 
horse,  mare,  and  colt,  with  its  breeding  and  charac 
teristics  is  known  to  him.  His  orders  are  given  clearly 
and  explicitly  concerning  the  feeding  or  care  of  this 
one  or  the  other,  until  night  drops  the  curtain.  After 
supper  he  goes  to  his  office  and  dictates  answers  to  a 
large  line  of  correspondents,  which,  with  directions 
for  the  morrow's  work,  fills  out  and  closes  a  hard  long 


LELAND  STANFORD.  259 

day,  with  a  certainty  that  there  is  no  less  work  to  be 
done  on  the  day  following.  At  one  season  of  the 
year  he  lays  out  his  work  for  the  next,  and  before 
spring  opens  his  stable  of  trotters  for  the  next  year's 
battles  are  selected. 

While  living  in  Sacramento  Mr  Stanford  owned 
some  trotting  horses,  including  Occident,  the  first 
California  horse  to  acquire  continental  fame,  the  first 
to  go  below  2:17,  having  trotted  in  2:16f.  Occident 
died  at  Palo  Alto  in  1886.  Governor  Stanford  also 
owned  Edgerton,  the  gray  horse  for  which  $20,000 
was  paid,  but  in  this  animal  expectations  were  not 
realized,  as  his  record  stopped  at  2:23.  In  1878  he 
purchased  of  Charles  Backman,  of  Stony  Ford,  New 
York,  the  horse  Electioneer.  He  also  bought  twelve 
other  head  of  horses,  all  Hambletonian,  for  $43,000. 
Thirteen  thousand  dollars  of  this  sum  was  for  Elec 
tioneer.  It  was  a  great  price,  but  at  that  time  colts 
from  Green  Mountain  Maid  were  extremely  high. 
Prospero  had  just  been  sold  for  $20,000  as  a  three- 
year-old,  and  had  Electioneer  been  sired  by  Messen- 
ter  Duroc,  Prospero's  sire,  his  price  would  have  been 
ir  greater,  notwithstanding  that  he  came  from  the 
loins  of  the  famous  old  Hambletonian.  Electioneer 
is  a  bay  stallion,  with  white  hind  feet,  15J  hands 
high.  He  went  lame  when  he  was  three  years  old 
and  made  no  record.  He  was  foaled  in  1868,  and 
was  consequently  ten  years  old  when  he  came  to  Palo 
Alto,  since  which  time  he  has  trotted  a  half  mile  in 
1:10,  and  a  quar^r  in  0:54.  He  stands  straight  on 
his  ankles,  with  very  little  sway  to  his  back,  a  young 
looking  head,  and  is  playful  as  a  colt  when  given  his 
exercise  on  the  track.  He  was  sired  by  Hambleto 
nian  10,  dam  the  world-famed  Harry  Clay  brood 
mare  Green  Mountain  Maid ;  second  dam,  Shanghai 
Miry,  a  fast  trotting  mare  of  unknown  blood. 

Incredible  as  it  may  seem  to  the  theorists  and 
adherents  of  pedigrees  made  up  of  eight  or  ten  crosses 
of  different  blood,  this  is  all  there  is  of  the  blood 


260  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

lines  of  this  famous  sire — Hambletonian,  Harry  Clay 
and  a  mare  of  unknown  blood,  which  has  accom 
plished  nothing  of  note  except  in  this  single  connec 
tion.  It  is  a  notable  fact  that  Hambletonian  10  was 
bred  in  the  same  way — a  good  sire  and  a  dam  of 
great  individuality  and  strongly  marked  characteris 
tics.  So  was  George  Wilkes,  so  was  Dictator,  and 
so  were  numbers  of  other  prominent  sires.  This  in 
no  way  militates  against  a  long  pedigree  of  first-class 
blood  ;  in  fact,  that  is  to  be  desired,  provided  it  is  a 
combination  of  producing  blood  coming  through  ani 
mals  of  marked  individuality.  But  the  fact  remains 
that,  in  trotters  or  sires  of  great  note,  we  find,  as  a 
rule,  the  dam  to  be  an  animal  of  strong  and  in  many 
cases  noticeable  characteristics  as  to  nerve  force,  con 
stitutional  vigor  and  conformation. 

Green  Mountain  Maid  was  a  mare  in  every  way 
notable.  She  had  an  excess  of  nerve  force  and  will 
power,  great  vigor,  a  speedy  conformation,  and  a  pure 
rapid  trotting  gait.  She  is  the  leading  matron  of 
the  famous  Harry  Clay  family  of  blood  mares 
which  have  become  prominent  as  the  dams  of  St. 
Julien,  2:11  J;  Bodine,  2:19,  and  many  other  orna 
ments  of  the  turf.  She  was  a  brown  mare,  fifteen 
hands  high,  foaled  in  1862.  She  has  had  sixteen 
foals.  The  first  was  in  1867,  when  she  foaled  to 
Middleton  the  bay  mare  Storm,  2:26  J.  In  1868  she 
foaled  to  Hambletonian  10  the  bay  horse  Electioneer, 
who  has  frequently  trotted  quarters  in  thirty-four 
seconds,  and  has  sired  more  speed  from  thoroughbred 
mares  than  any  other  horse.  In  1869  she  foaled  to 
Messenger  Duroc  the  black  gelding  Prospero,  which 
has  a  record  of  2:20.  In  1870  she  foaled  to  Messen 
ger  Duroc  Dame  Trot,  2:22,  trial  2:17.  In  1871  she 
foaled  the  chestnut  gelding  Paul,  of  which  we  know 
nothing.  In  1872  she  produced  the  chestnut  mare 
Miranda,  2:31,  by  Messenger  Duroc.  In  1873  she 
produced  a  black  colt,  which  died.  In  1874  she 
became  the  mother  of  Elaine,  record  2:20,  and  dam 


LELAND  STANFORD.  261 

of  Norlaine,  yearling  record  2:31j.  In  1877  she 
produced  the  brown  mare  Elise,  which  injured  a  hip 
and  has  since  been  breeding.  In  1878  she  foaled  the 
bay  mare  Elite,  which  showed  a  half  mile  in  1:08, 
was  sold  at  auction  for  $3,100,  and  is  now  in  the 
Woodburn  harem.  In  1880  she  foaled  the  bay  horse 
Antonio,  which  has  a  record  of  2:28|.  In  1881  her 
black  filly  died.  In  1883  she  foaled  the  bay  mare 
Elisla,  which  with  little  training  showed  great  speed. 
In  1885  she  foaled  a  black  mare  which  showed  2:35 
the  first  time  harnessed,  and  in  1887  she  foaled  a  very 
promising  colt  called  Lancelot,  recently  sold  for 
$12,500.  Such  is  the  record  of  the  great  mare.  She 
has  among  her  progeny  six  2:30  trotters,  two  with 
records  of  2:20,  a  son  with  thirty-eight  2:30  trotters, 
all  the  best  trotting  colts  on  record  save  two,  and  a 
grandson  which  is  sire  of  the  fastest  yearling. 

Electioneer  is  the  sire  of  forty-one  2:30  trotters, 
and  forty-six  daughters  which  have  produced  more 
than  fifty  2:30  trotters,  and  he  is  out  of  this  great 
old  mare.  He  is  a  combination  of  the  founder  of  the 
greatest  trotting  family,  and  the  foremost  mare  of  a 
great  brood-mare  family  ;  a  trotter  himself,  and  all 
his  sisters  and  cousins  and  aunts  are  also  trotters,  and 
from  the  most  prepotent  families.  Verily,  if  he  failed 
to  produce  in  great  numbers  young  trotters  of 
extreme  speed  he  would  be  the  rankest  failure  on 
earth.  His  great  success  is  not  enigmatical  or  a 
marvel,  but  only  the  legitimate  sequence  of  a  grand 
speed  inheritance,  and  strong  individuality. 

The  value  of  a  stallion  lies  in  his  individual  and 
inherited  possession  of  that  transmitting  quality 
which  enables  him  with  certainty  to  impress  upon  his 
progeny  those  characteristics  desired  in  the  animal 
produced.  Many  high-bred  stallions  possessing  mar 
vellous  speed  are  not  endowed  with  this  essential 
quality ;  many  produce  an  occasional  trotter,  or  pro 
duce  only  when  mated  with  mares  of  certain  blood 
which  seems  to  harmonize  with  that  of  the  horse. 


262  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

These  animals  are  of  some  value,  but  a  great  horse 
must  be  so  endowed  with  this  quality  as  to  universally 
impress  the  qualities  desired  upon  his  progeny.  Such 
a  horse  will  not  only  found  a  family  of  trotters,  but 
his  sons  and  daughters  will  reproduce  with  regularity. 
Electioneer  might  not  be  considered  by  everybody 
as  a  strikingly  beautiful  horse,  but  he  is  good  from 
whatever  point  you  view  him.  He  has  power,  alert 
ness,  intelligence,  and  nerve,  and  he  looks  like  an  ani 
mal  that  would  fulfil  his  part  of  any  contract  with  any 
man  that  ever  sat  in  a  saddle  or  held  a  pair  of  reins. 
He  is  good-tempered  withal,  and  does  not  resent  the 
touch  of  a  friendly  stranger.  He  has  a  plain  head, 
but  with  nothing  about  it  that  is  homely  or  unat 
tractive.  The  jowl  is  wide,  and  the  large  hazel  eyes 
are  prominent  and  pretty  wide  apart,  making  the  horse 
look  intelligent  and  brainy,  as  he  is.  The  upper  part 
of  the  neck,  behind  the  jowl,  is  large  and  thick,  and 
the  throat  is  full.  On  top  the  neck  is  very  nearly 
straight,  and  the  crest  is  thinner  than  in  most  trot 
ting  stallions.  This  was  formerly  thought  a  fault  in 
a  trotting  sire,  but  Mr  Stanford  considered  it  a  good 
point.  The  shoulders  are  heavy,  and  the  breast  is 
prominent  and  muscular,  but  clean  and  smooth  in 
appearance.  The  arms  and  fore  legs  are  strong,  and 
run  to  black  above  the  fine  knees.  The  cannon-bones 
are  short  and  of  average  thickness;  the  pastern-joint 
is  of  medium  size  and  springy ;  hoofs  of  ordinary  size, 
and  with  thick  walls.  He  is  flat  on  the  withers,  has 
a  good  back,  is  ribbed  up  well,  has  a  round  barrel  and 
is  long  on  the  belly  ;  hips  large  and  powerful ;  very 
broad  across  the  stifle  ;  gaskin  large  and  strong  ;  hind 
legs  black  from  just  above  the  hock  to  the  white  hind 
feet ;  tail  black,  long  and  rather  light  weight ;  mane 
black  and  not  abundant ;  tail  and  mane  were  always 
as  they  are  ;  he  is  higher  behind  than  in  front ;  he  has 
not  been  shod  in  five  years  ;  in  health  and  vigor  he  is 
like  a  colt ;  he  is  high  strung,  but  he  does  nothing 
mean  or  vicious.  Nearly  every  horse  that  Electioneer 


LELAND  STANFORD.  263 

sires  has  one  white  foot  and  sometimes  two,  and  he 
transmits  his  color  strongly. 

In  the  purchase  of  Electioneer  Mr  Stanford  exer 
cised  his  usual  judgment.  He  was  induced  thereto 
by  his  admiration  for  the  individual  excellence  of  the 
horse,  and  his  unqualified  admiration  for  the  great 
mare,  his  mother.  At  Stony  Ford  the  horse  had 
been  given  but  little  opportunity  to  demonstrate  his 
quality  as  a  sire.  At  that  time  large  stallions  were 
in  favor,  and  the  breeding  of  the  dam  of  Electioneer 
was  unpopular ;  so  much  so,  in  fact,  as  to  be  held  in 
contempt.  It  resulted  that  Electioneer  was  neglected, 
and  had  but  few  foals  when  he  was  removed  to  Cali 
fornia.  At  the  close  of  1887  he  had  about  320  foals. 
Of  these  thirty-three  were  weanlings,  thirty-seven 
were  yearlings,  and  about  forty  were  brood  mares 
without  records.  Of  the  whole  number  of  his  foals 
231  were  bays,  three  were  roans,  three  were  grays, 
and  the  rest  were  either  brown  or  black,  so  that  more 
than  ninety- eight  per  cent  of  his  progeny  are  of  solid 
color.  At  the  close  of  1887  there  had  been  bred  at 
Palo  Alto  294  foals  by  Electioneer.  Of  this  number 
thirt}r-eight  now  have  records  in  2:30  or  better.  Nine 
of  them  as  two-year-olds  secured  records  better  than 
2:30.  They  are  Wildflower,  2:21  ;  Palo  Alto,  2:23f ; 
Bonita,  2:24^;  Fred  Crocker,  2:25j;  Bell  Boy,  2:26; 
Carrie  C.,  2:27J;  Sphinx,  2:29 J  ;  Palo  Alto  Belle, 
2:28^,  and  the  wonderful  Sunol,  2:18.  In  addition 
to  this  Suisun  trotted  to  a  record  of  2:31^  (trial 
2:26).  Ella  secured  a  record  of  2:33j  and  Chimes 
2:33^.  Seven  have  made  records  in  2:30  or  better  as 
three-year-olds.  They  are  Hinda  Rose,  2:19^  ;  Man- 
zanita,  2:23|;  Rexford,  2:24;  Maiden,  2:23;  Grace 
Lee,  2:29^;  Ella,  2:29,  and  Gertrude  Russell,  2:23. 
In  the  year  1887  eight  of  the  get  of  Electioneer 
entered  the  magic  circle.  They  were  Ansel,  2:20; 
Maiden,  2:23;  Bell  Boy,  2:26;  Whips,  2:27f;  Old 
Nick,  2:23;  Stella,  2:23J;  Clifton  Belle,  2:24,  and 
Eros,  2:28J.  In  the  year  1888  thirteen  of  the  foals 


264  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

of  Electioneer  trotted  to  records  in  2:30  or  better. 
They  were  Elector,  2:21^;  Juno,  2:23;  Gertrude 
Russell,  2:23;  Azmoor,  2:24f;  Morea,  2:25;  Arbu- 
tos,  2:27^;  Cubic,  2:28j;  Express,  2:29£;  Grace 
Lee,  2:29J;  Ella,  2:29  ;  the  great  two-year-old  Sunol, 
2:18;  Palo  Alto  Belle,  2:28^,  and  Mortimer,  four- 
year-old,  2:27. 

The  power  of  Electioneer  to  sire  fast  trotters  from 
all  kinds  of  mares  is  especially  noticeable,  and  his  mar 
vellous  producing  power  is  apparent  in  the  fact  that 
from  strictly  thoroughbred  mares  he  has  sired  fast 
trotters  ;  nor  does  it  seem  that  his  ability  in  this 
direction  is  confined  to  one  class  of  thoroughbreds, 
or  to  mares  of  any  certain  lines  of  blood.  To  a 
degree  never  equalled  this  great  horse  controls  the 
action,  temperament  and  gait  so  as  to  sire  from  all 
kinds  of  thoroughbred  blood  pure-gaited  trotters  of 
great  speed.  To  recapitulate  the  points  made  con 
cerning  this  great  sire  of  colt  trotters,  he  is  bred  in 
the  most  popular  lines,  and  embraces  in  his  pedigree 
the  greatest  sire  and  founder  of  the  greatest  family, 
as  well  as  the  greatest  mare  of  a  noted  brood-mare 
family.  He  is  himself  the  last  trotter.  His  get  are 
surprisingly  uniform  in  conformation,  color,  and  action. 
He  sires  great  speed  with  uniformity,  and  leads  all 
other  horses  as  a  sire  of  extreme  speed  at  an  early 
age,  and  as  a  producer  from  all  kinds  of  mares, 
including  thoroughbreds. 

Of  thirteen  trotters  by  Electioneer  three  were  out 
of  strictly  thoroughbred  dams.  Among  his  get  from 
thoroughbred  dams  are  Ansel,  2:20  (in  a  jog);  Palo 
Alto,  four-year-old  record,  2:23;  Azmoor,  2:24f; 
Whips,  2:27J;  Cubic,  2:28j,  and  Express,  2:29|. 
Hinda  Hose  has  a  yearling  record  of  2:26^,  which 
stood  unchallenged  for  six  years.  Norlaine,  a  grand 
daughter  of  Electioneer,  holds  the  world's  yearling 
record  of  2:31^.  Hinda  Rose  in  1883  trotted  to  a 
three-year-old  record  of  2:19^,  which  was  undis 
turbed  until  1887,  when  it  was  beaten  by  Sable 


LELAND  STANFORD.  265 

Wilkes — 2:18.  Manzanita  holds  the  four-year-old 
record  of  2:16,  and  the  nearest  approach  to  it  is 
Susie  S.  s  mile  in  2:18.  Wildflower  in  1881  aston 
ished  the  world  by  trotting  to  a  two-year-old  record 
of  2:21,  which  was  never  approached  until  1888. 
Axtell,  by  William  L.,  trotted  in  2:23,  while  a  fort 
night  only  elapsed  until  the  two-year-old  Electioneer 
filly  Sunol  trotted  in  2:20^,  and  a  fortnight  later  in 
2:18.  This  gives  to  Palo  Alto  the  fastest  yearling, 
two-year-old  and  four-year-old  trotting  records.  Elec- 
tioneer's  roll  of  honor  now  embraces  nine  trotters 
with  records  in  2:20  or  better,  four  with  records  bet 
ter  than  2:18,  two  with  records  better  than  2:17, 
twelve  with  records  better  than  2:22,  and  twenty- 
three  with  records  in  2:25  or  better,  while  only  two 
of  his  entire  number  in  the  charmed  circle  have  rec 
ords  as  slow  as  2:30. 

There  are  other  magnificent  stallions  at  Palo  Alto, 
with  about  three  hundred  brood-mares,  which  are 
being  bred  to  Electioneer,  Nephew,  Piedmont,  and 
their  sons,  and  to  the  sons  of  General  Benton. 
General  Benton  has  sired  extreme  speed,  and  the 
youngsters  by  his  sons  and  the  produce  of  his  daugh 
ters  are  first  class.  The  great  race  horse  Piedmont, 
2:27^,  is  here.  He  already  has  two  in  the  list,  and 
some  very  promising  youngsters.  Nephew,  by  Ham- 
brino,  2:21  J,  dam  by  Abdallah  15,  has  a  number  of 
fast  ones  on  the  list,  and  they  are  noted  for  their 
racehorse  qualities.  Clay,  2:25,  by  Electioneer,  dam, 
Maid  of  Clay,  by  Henry  Clay,  is  a  grand  horse,  and 
his  progeny  are  of  great  promise.  Electricity,  by 
Electioneer,  dam  Midnight  (dam  of  Jay-Eye-See,  2:10, 
and  Noontide,  2:20  J,  by  Pilot  Jr.),  is  an  exceedingly 
fine  horse.  He  has  shown  quarters  in  35  seconds. 

Early  in  his  efforts  toward  breeding,  Mr  Stanford 
sent  to  Kentucky  for  thoroughbred  mares.  While 
he  looked  for  good  blood,  he  paid  more  especial  atten 
tion  to  the  mares  themselves  than  to  their  pedigree, 
and  selected  good-sized  animals,  with  fine  heads  and 


266  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

good  legs  and  feet.  He  preferred  mares,  if  he  could 
get  them,  that  had  produced  race-horses ;  for  he 
thought  that  if  good  race-horses  had  been  got  from 
them,  they  would  also  produce  good  trotters.  Since 
his  first  purchases  he  has  come  to  look  for  certain 
strains  as  well  as  for  desirable  apparent  qualities,  and 
perhaps  gives  a  preference  to  Planets. 

Of  the  brood-mares  at  Palo  Alto  less  than  one-half 
are  thoroughbred.  The  breeding  of  trotting  sires  to 
trotting  dams  is  still  extensively  carried  on,  because 
there  is  a  demand  for  horses  so  bred ;  and  as  the 
horses  are  there  he  sees  no  reason  why  the  breeding 
should  be  stopped.  Moreover,  he  probably  does  not 
regard  the  work  of  developing  and  improving  the 
trotting  horse  by  the  infusion  of  thoroughbred  blood 
as  completed,  though  he  is  more  than  satisfied  with 
the  results  so  far  attained.  Superintendent  Marvin 
thinks  that  the  new  plan  of  breeding  has  been  suc 
cessful  and  satisfactory  in  every  way  ;  that  the  pro 
duct  have  all  the  good  qualities  of  the  best  horses, 
and  that  they  show  improvement  in  speed,  bottom 
and  staying  for  long  distances.  The  half-bred  trot 
ter  has  shorter  hair,  a  finer  neck  and  head,  and  a 
better-looking  and  brighter  eye.  He  looks  keen  and 
courageous,  and  as  though  he  could  do  something. 
His  legs  are  flatter  and  thinner,  the  joints  are  cleaner, 
and  there  is  less  fleshy  substance  on  .  them,  and  less 
tendency  to  feverishness  and  pufifiness.  The  legs  are 
not  longer,  nor  do  they  run  to  leanness  or  a  race 
horse  appearance ;  but  there  is  about  the  horse  a 
general  cleanness  of  cut ;  he  is  alert  and  quick  and 
willing  to  go.  His  foot  is  not  smaller,  but  is  stronger 
and  harder — holds  a  nail  better  and  wears  better. 
Some  think  that  the  half-bred  trotter  will  not  be 
trustworthy — that  at  the  supreme  moment  he  will 
lose  his  head  or  his  feet.  But  experience  gives  no 
warrant  for  this  supposition.  The  half-bred  trotter, 
at  least  those  sired  by  such  horses  as  Electioneer, 
seem  no  more  uncertain  than  the  trotting-bred  trotter. 


LELAND  STANFORD.  267 

At  Palo  Alto  the  colt  is  weaned  at  five  months. 
He  is  then  broken  to  the  halter  and  turned  into  the 
fields,  sheltered  at  night,  and  fed  twice  a  day  with 
all  that  he  can  eat  of  boiled  and  ground  food.  This 
is  continued  until  he  is  eight  months  old,  when  he  is 
taken  out  for  exercise  on  one  of  the  miniature  tracks. 
He  is  kept  at  this  until  twelve  or  thirteen  months 
old,. and  then  broken  to  a  skeleton  wagon,  side  by 
side  with  a  well-trained  horse.  Those  that  it  seems 
desirable  to  keep  in  training  are  continued  in  exercise, 
the  others  are  turned  out  to  pasture.  In  training  the 
ordinary  rule  for  all  ages  is  short  distances,  with 
work  every  day,  including  a  quarter  or  half-mile 
brush.  Good  colts  are  entered  almost  everywhere, 
and  when  the  time  approaches  they  are  tried  for 
longer  distances.  Speed  and  the  possibilities  are 
thus  developed  without  using  up  all  the  reserve  power. 

The  colts  and  fillies  run  together  until  they  are 
seven  or  eight  months  old ;  after  that  they  are  kept 
apart.  When  weaned,  two  colts  or  two  fillies  are  put 
in  one  stall  until  they  are  from  eleven  to  thirteen 
months  old,  then  they  are  placed  in  separate  stalls. 

To  the  south  and  east  of  the  east  stable,  and  not 
far  from  it,  is  a  track  of  one-twelfth  of  a  mile,  roofed 
over,  but  open  in  the  centre.  East  of  the  T  stable 
is  a  track  of  one-ninth  of  a  mile,  with  a  little  pavilion- 
like  shelter  in  the  middle.  There  are  other  small 
tracks  at  convenient  places,  with  a  wralk ing-track  for 
cooling  and  exercise,  and  a  covered  paddock  for  use  in 
wet  weather.  The  shed  barns  to  the  west  and  north 
west  of  the  T  stable  are  full  of  trotting  horses  in 
training,  and  the  large  open  space  or  plaza  that  is  to 
some  extent  enclosed  by  these  structures  is  a  scene 
of  busy  life,  with  men  and  horses  constantly  coming 
and  going  from  the  tracks.  It  is  convenient  to  the 
regular  trotting-tracks,  one  of  which  is  three-quarters 
of  a  mile  in  length,  and  inside  of  the  other,  which  is 
one  mile.  There  are  no  buildings  on  the  trotting- 
courses.  In  building  the  tracks  a  ledge  was  left  all 


268  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

around  the  inner  circles  at  the  poles.  The  tracks  are 
smooth  and  true.  Numbers  of  fine  horses  may  be 
seen  moving  on  them  during  the  early  part  of  the 
day,  and  one  may  observe  coming  from  the  stables 
and  going  back  to  them,  sitting  in  sulkies  and  driving, 
keen-looking  horsemen  who  drive  fast  or  slow  accord 
ing  to  the  purpose  to  be  attained,  with  now  and  then 
a  good  horse  going  gamely  and  squarely,  such  trials 
being  carefully  noted  by  the  ubiquitous  and  watchful 
superintendent. 

As  I  have  said,  not  only  is  Palo  Alto  the  largest 
horse  farm  in  the  world,  but  probably  no  amount  of 
money  could  purchase  its  equal  with  all  the  world  to 
select  from.  Although  it  was  not  started  with  the 
view  of  breeding  horses  to  sell,  but  to  improve  the 
trotting  horse,  and  has  never  been  managed  for  profit, 
it  could  undoubtedly  be  made  to  yield  a  large  income. 
Indeed,  Mr  Lathrop  states  that  none  of  Mr  Stan 
ford's  ventures  pay  better  than  his  investment  in 
horses.  For  the  conduct  of  this  great  estate  150 
persons  are  employed,  at  salaries  ranging  from  $30  to 
$250  per  month,  of  which  number  ov.er  100  are  white, 
and  the  rest  Chinese.  The  employes  are  all  boarded 
by  their  employer.  Church  services  are  conducted 
on  the  place,  and  Mrs  Stanford  has  established  a 
school  for  boys  and  a  kindergarten  for  girls  at  Menlo 
Park. 

The  value  of  this  great  establishment  consists  not 
in  its  vast  extent,  nor  in  its  great  number  of  excel 
lent  horses,  nor  even  in  the  number  of  fast  records 
obtained  by  horses  bred  there,  but  in  the  fact  that 
there  is  being  established  a  great  race  of  high-bred 
sound,  handsome,  stylish  horses,  which  trot  fast 
because  it  is  their  nature  to  trot,  and  because  they 
are  bred  so  that  the  trotting  instinct  is  the  ruling 
passion. 

Contrary  to  the  idea  of  many,  the  excellent  climate 
has  contributed  less  to  the  exceptional  success  of  the 
stock  farm  than  the  intelligence  of  the  owner  as  dis- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  269 

played  in  the  selection  of  stock  and  in  the  constant 
care  given  to  breaking. 

But  to  the  stock  farm  at  Palo  Alto,  perfect  as  it 
is,  so  far  as  anything  human  can  be  called  perfect,  Mr 
Stanford's  rural  tastes  and  pastimes  are  by  no  means 
restricted. 

"  O  fortunati  minium  sua  si  bona  n6rint 
Agricolae, " 

says  the  Latin  poet.  And  a  farmer's  life,  if  such  had 
been  his  lot,  the  governor  would  doubtless  have  pre 
ferred  to  all  others,  himself  remarking  that  this  is  the 
occupation  for  which  he  is  best  adapted.  Such  is  the 
modest  estimate  placed  on  himself  by  one  who  has 
long  been  known  to  the  world  as  a  railroad  builder,  a 
millionaire,  a  statesman,  a  philanthropist,  and  a  man  at 
the  head  of  more  varied  and  important  interests  than 
were  ever  intrusted  to  a  citizen  of  this  western  com 
monwealth. 

And  in  tracing  the  origin  of  the  wonderful  power 
of  this  no  less  wonderful  success,  perhaps  next  to  his 
versatility,  his  many-sideness,  his  forecast,  his  breadth 
of  grasp,  his  ability  to  plan  and  execute,  should  be 
placed  his  care  in  the  choice  and  treatment  of  his 
employes.  Those  whom  he  selects  for  positions  of 
trust  he  trusts  implicitly,  confiding  to  them  a  full 
measure  of  responsibility,  expecting  them  to  assume 
that  responsibility,  to  act  up  to  it,  and  to  be  responsi 
ble  for  all  placed  under  them.  By  some  he  has  been 
accused  of  neglecting  details  ;  but  as  a  fact  he  expects 
such  details  to  be  elaborated  by  others,  himself  laying 
down  only  general  principles.  In  those  around  him 
he  has  perfect  confidence,  and  this  he  never  hesitates 
to  show  until  he  finds  it  misplaced,  thus  causing  them 
to  have  faith  in  themselves  and  insuring  zealous  and 
faithful  service.  Moreover,  he  has  always  made  it  a 
point  to  pay  higher  salaries  and  wages  than  other 
firms  and  corporations,  thereby  securing  first-class 
work,  with  an  unlimited  choice  of  employes.  When 


270  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

waited  upon  by  the  proprietors  of  certain  foundries 
and  machine-shops,  who  urged  him  to  cut  down  the 
railroad  company's  rates,  since  by  its  liberal  policy  it 
absorbed  all  the  best  available  labor  :  "  That  is  just 
what  we  want,"  he  replied.  "  We  are  offering  this 
increase  as  an  inducement  to  our  men  to  become 
better  workmen  than  your  people  are."  But  to  return 
to  the  governor's  farming  operations. 

The  most  valuable  and  productive  of  the  three 
great  farms  donated  to  the  university  is  the  Vina 
tract,  situated  at  the  junction  of  Deer  creek  with  the 
Sacramento  river,  being  a  portion  of  a  Mexican  grant 
made  to  Peter  Lassen,  the  Swede,  who  settled  on 
it  some  time  before  the  discovery  of  gold.  Later  it 
passed  into  the  possession  of  a  German  named  Gerke, 
who  for  many  years  made  from  its  vineyard  a  brand 
of  hock  that  was  famous  in  the  San  Francisco  mar 
kets.  In  1881  this  man  died  and  Governor  Stanford 
purchased  the  grant,  adding  to  it  other  pieces  of  land, 
until  he  secured  55,000  acres,  at  a  cost  of  $1,000,000. 
The  old  vineyard  had  gone  to  waste,  the  fences  were 
down,  houses  dilapidated,  and  there  was  no  provision 
for  irrigation.  In  1882  Mr  Stanford  ordered  1,000 
acres  set  out  as  a  vineyard,  and  800,000  cuttings  were 
planted,  comprising  the  finest  varieties  of  wine,  raisin, 
and  table  grapes,  the  first  predominating,  The  varie 
ties  are  the  black  don,  burger,  black  burgundy,  hans- 
trillo,  charbonneau,  zinfandel,  black  elben,  black  mal- 
voise,  nerdal,  trosseaux,  chargre,  poulsan,  lenoir,  and 
herbemont,  to  which  have  been  added  a  number  of 
other  grafts  especially  imported  from  Europe.  The 
trosseaux,  charbonneau,  and  herbemont  are  those 
principally  used  for  port  wine,  the  zinfandel  for 
claret,  and  the  berger  for  white  wine,  the  opinion 
being  held  that  the  last  named  is  to  be  the  coming 
hock.  In  the  following  spring  1,500  acres  more  were 
set  out,  but  in  1884  nothing  was  done  in  that  line 
owing  to  the  death  of  young  Leland  Stanford.  In 
the  spring  of  1888,  1,000  more  acres  of  vines  were 


LELAND  STANFORD.  271 

added,  aggregating,  with  the  seventy-five  acres  of  the 
old  Gerke  vineyard,  a  total  of  3,575  acre's,  or  2,860,- 
000  vines  in  one  vineyard,  making  it  by  far  the  larg 
est  vineyard  in  the  world,  and,  as  some  assert,  larger 
than  any  three  vineyards  in  the  world  combined. 

The  entire  tract  of  3,575  acres  is  laid  out  in  blocks 
152  feet  in  width  by  552  feet  in  length,  separated  by 
alleys  running  north  and  south,  and  by  avenues  east 
and  west,  the  alleys  sixteen  feet  wide  and  the  avenues 
forty-eight  feet.  These  blocks  lie  along  the  Sacra 
mento  river,  and  are  parallel  with  the  railroad,  which 
runs  through  it  from  north  to  south.  The  avenues 
are  lined  on  either  side  with  walnut,  apricot,  peach, 
plum,  and  other  trees,  and  running  through  the  centre 
of  each  avenue  is  an  irrigating  ditch,  fifteen  feet  wide, 
with  a  twelve-foot  roadway  on  either  side.  This  is 
the  horticultural  division  ;  the  agricultural  division 
comprises  wheat,  oat,  hay,  and  uncultivated  bottom 
and  timber  land,  grazing  land,  in  addition  to  the  regu 
lar  plain,  and  foothills. 

The  preparations  for  the  irrigation  of  this  vast 
estate  are  commensurate  with  the  scale  on  which  Mr 
Stanford  conducts  all  enterprises  which  he  controls. 
The  construction  of  the  system  was  begun  in  1882, 
and  is  not  yet  completed.  The  source  of  supply  is 
Deer  creek,  which  was  tapped  two  and  a  half  miles 
northeast  of  Vina,  where  two  massive  floodgates  were 
constructed — one  of  wood  and  the  other  of  granite 
laid  in  cement.  The  great  central  ditch  has  a  grade 
of  four  feet  to  the  mile  and  a  capacity  of  80,000  gal 
lons  per  minute,  or  7,300  miner's  inches.  Two  miles 
from  its  head  a  fifteen-foot  branch  ditch  begins  and 
runs  past  the  vineyard,  supplying  the  northern  por 
tion  with  water.  This  branch  is  subdivided  into  ten 
smaller  ditches,  nine  of  which  run  through  the  vine 
yard  and  are  controlled  by  a  system  of  floodgates, 
which  give  uniform  irrigation  to  every  foot  of  the 
vineyard. 

The  tenth  ditch  passes  on  through  the  vineyard  a 


272  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

distance  of  two  miles,  where  it  is  itself  subdivided  into 
twenty  smaller  ones  for  the  irrigation  of  a  500-acre 
field  of  alfalfa,  each  ditch,  even  at  this  distance  of  five 
miles  from  Deer  creek,  being  nine  feet  wide  and  run 
ning  full  in  the  dryest  season.  After  supplying  the 
northern  fork  the  main  ditch  runs  for  a  mile  into  a 
twenty-foot  bottom,  with  a  slope  of  one  and  one-half 
to  one,  and  then  along  the  line  of  the  railroad  for  over 
four  miles,  with  a  thirty-foot  bottom  and  with  a  grade 
of  two  feet  to  the  mile.  From  this  nineteen  six-foot 
ditches  branch  out  and  are  carried  through  the  new 
portions  of  the  vineyard.  Opposite  the  head  of  the 
main  ditch  a  third  one,  with  a  twelve-foot  bottom, 
runs  for  two  miles  to  a  600-acre  alfalfa  field,  which  it 
intersects  with  a  series  of  cross-ditches,  making  alto 
gether  a  system  of  fifty-five  miles  of  ditches,  capable 
of  irrigating  12,000  acres.  The  water  rights  of  the 
Vina  farm  are  secure  for  all  time,  owing  to  the  fore 
sight  of  the  owner,  who  secured  the  land  along  Deer 
creek  which  commands  them,  thus  adding,  with  the 
irrigating  system,  fully  a  half-million  dollars  to  the 
value  of  the  property.  The  land  which  is  devoted  to 
the  raising  of  alfalfa  is  the  richest  bottom  land  on  the 
place,  and  immensely  productive.  The  first  hay  crop 
is  cut  in  May,  after  which  the  water  is  turned  on, 
and,  with  the  stimulus  of  the  hot  sun,  another  larger 
crop  is  ready  for  the  mowers  in  six  weeks.  In  this 
way  four  crops  are  taken  from  the  same  land,  averag 
ing  six  tons  of  hay  per  acre  to  the  season,  of  a  sweet 
and  most  nutritious  quality,  which  is  baled  and  stored 
for  future  use  or  market.  After  the  last  crop  the 
cattle  are  turned  upon  the  land,  where  they  revel  in 
the  juiciest  of  food  during  winter.  The  wheat  land,  a 
light  alluvial,  lies  along  the  river,  and  is  very  pro 
ductive. 

On  the  pasture  lands  there  are  about  sixty  Holstein 
cows,  valued  at  $300  each.  Milking  is  done  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  and  at  three  in  the  afternoon, 
an  average  milking  being  thirty  pounds.  Pans}rne, 


LELAND  STANFORD.  273 

while  at  the  fair  at  Sacramento,  gave  eighty  pounds  of 
milk  a  day,  while  Clara  Hamilton  took  a  premium 
for  giving  447  pounds  of  milk  in  four  days.  Cameo 
gave  over  18,000  pounds  of  milk  in  a  year,  and  still 
the  cows  are  never  made  to  give  a  larger  quantity  of 
milk  than  is  natural. 

Vina  vineyard  lies  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Sacra 
mento,  with  Deer  creek  as  the  northern  boundary, 
the  tract  being  three  by  three  and  a  half  miles  in 
extent,  and  the  California  and  Oregon  railway  passing 
through  it.  There  is  a  comfortable  mansion  on  the 
place,  with  good  barns,  granaries,  and  dwellings  for  the 
employes. 

Twenty  acres  were  laid  off  for  a  winery  in  the 
northeastern  portion  of  the  vineyard,  but  not  more 
than  half  the  tract  has  thus  far  been  built  upon,  or 
put  to  use  for  this  purpose.  Back  of  the  winery  is 
the  engine-room  and  distillery,  which  are  complete  in 
every  department.  The  winery  proper  covers  an  area 
of  120  by  270  feet,  being  two  stories  in  height  at 
either  end  and  three  stories  in  the  middle.  It  is  the 
intention  to  have  as  nearly  as  possible  a  complete 
plant,  with  all  the  attendant  auxiliaries.  On  the  sec 
ond  floor  are  two  steam  grape-crushers,  with  a  capac 
ity  of  twenty  tons  an  hour  each,  while  on  the  third 
floor  is  the  stemmer.  When  the  grapes  are  brought 
in  from  the  vineyard  they  are  sent  in  a  box  elevator 
to  the  third  floor,  thrown  into  a  hopper  and  passed 
through  the  stemmer,  which  removes  the  stems,  after 
which  they  are  sent  to  the  crushers.  The  power  in 
use  is  from  a  hydraulic  ram,  besides  which  there  is  a 
steam  pump.  The  water  supply  comes  from  Deer 
creek.  A  tank  with  a  capacity  of  40,000  gallons  fur 
nishes  a  part  only  of  the  water  supply,  50,000  or 
60,000  gallons  being  daily  required. 

The  fermen ting-house  is  105  by  157  feet,  with  a 
fourteen-foot  roadway  running  through  it  paved  with 
concrete,  on  either  side  of  which  are  vats  holding  about 
1,600  gallons  each,  and  incandescent  lights,  so  that 

C.  B.— II.     18 


274  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

work  can  be  carried  on  day  and  night.  It  is  divided 
into  separate  rooms  for  red  wine  and  white  wine,  and 
with  open  vats  four  by  ten  feet  in  diameter.  The 
capacity  of  the  fermenting-house  is  400  tons  of  wine 
in  twenty-four  hours.  Hand  and  steam  pumps  are 
employed,  the  wine  being  moved  by  means  of  hand 
pumps.  For  protection  from  fire  it  is  so  arranged 
that  any  portion  of  the  roof  or  interior  of  the  ferment- 
ing-rooms  can  be  instantly  flooded.  As  much  of  the 
work  as  possible  is  done  by  machinery.  The  juice  is 
pressed  out  by  a  hydraulic  press  driven  by  water 
power,  and  which  is  capable  of  sustaining  a  pressure 
equal  to  any  that  the  timber  can  bear.  It  is  conveyed 
from  the  fermenting-house  to  the  still  by  means  of 
tubes,  and  deposited  in  a  large  tank  or  reservoir  out 
side  of  the  still,  and  thence  to  an  inner  reservoir,  as 
required. 

In  the  distillery,  where  brandy  is  made,  are  two 
stills  of  the  most  approved  type,  with  all  the  latest 
improvements.  The  fermen  ting-tanks  are  of  redwood, 
and  the  storage-tanks  of  oak.  The  stills  have  a  capacity 
of  about  1,376  gallons  of  brandy  every  twenty-four 
hours,  that  being  a  day  in  the  wine  business.  There 
is  a  Corliss  engine  pump  of  about  50  horse-power. 
The  distillery  runs  about  two-thirds  of  the  year  ;  the 
fermenting-house  runs  about  two  months.  There  is 
a  dynamo,  the  ordinary  Brush  incandescent  light,  of 
sufficient  power  to  run  150  lights.  Then  there  is  the 
sherry-house,  which  communicates  with  the  storage- 
cellar,  where  the  wine  is  deposited  in  vats  by  means 
of  a  force  pump. 

In  the  storage-vaults  are  five  hundred  2,000-gallon 
ovals,  besides  three  or  four  hundred  1,600-gallon 
ovals.  The  capacity  of  the  storage-vaults  is  about 
2,000,000  gallons.  The  floor  is  of  concrete  cement. 
The  building  is  composed  of  brick,  with  hollow  walls 
to  maintain  an  even  temperature.  It  is  268  by  298 
feet,  and  14  feet  in  the  clear.  The  roof  is  made  of 
brick,  arches  running  through,  9  inches  thick,  and 


LELAND  STANFORD.  275 

resting  on  wooden  pillars,  with  a  covering  of  earth  or 
sand  to  prevent  the  heat  from  penetrating  through. 
There  is  no  machinery  in  this  storage-room,  excepting 
the  pumps  used  for  handling  the  wine.  There  is  a 
tank  with  a  capacity  of  1,000  gallons  used  for  mixing 
the  wines.  The  floor  is  constructed  with  slight 
elevations  and  depressions,  and  with  a  general  incline 
towards  one  side,  so  that  the  water  will  run  off  quickly 
to  the  sewer.  The  vaults  cover  nearly  two  acres  of 
land.  This  building  is  also  supplied  with  an  apparatus 
whereby  any  part  of  it  can  be  flooded  in  case  of  fire. 

Care  is  taken  in  stemming  and  pressing  that  the 
seeds  are  not  broken,  lest  a  bitter  taste  be  given  to  the 
juice.  Contact  with  iron  likewise  injures  the  quality 
of  the  wine,  but  the  coat  of  tartar  which  forms  pre 
vents  the  fluid  from  really  touching  the  metal. 

The  effect  of  age  on  wine  is  to  clarify  it,  so  that 
there  no  longer  remain  any  fermentable  particles,  and 
when  it  is  drank  there  is  nothing  present  to  ferment 
in  the  stomach.  The  nitrogeneous  and  albuminous 
properties  are  removed  in  time  by  successive  precipi 
tations.  The  wine  is  made  in  October,  placed  in  an 
air-tight  vessel,  and  in  December  run  into  another 
vessel,  leaving  in  one  of  the  large  ovals  forty  gallons 
of  refuse.  The  operation  is  repeated  ;  and  at  the  end 
of  a  year  yet  more  is  removed.  Finally,  when  all 
the  fermentable  properties  and  all  undesirable  sub 
stances  are  thus  worked  off,  the  wine  is  said  to  have 
acquired  age.  Through  this  process  the  finest  quali 
ties  of  the  grape  are  brought  out,  and  from  this  comes 
the  bouquet.  Some  wine  is  fit  to  drink  when  six 
months  old,  and  is  as  far  advanced  as  other  wines  at 
sixteen  months ;  but  it  is  with  wine  as  with  other 
things,  early  ripening  precedes  an  early  decay.  When 
the  slower  maturing  wine  is  at  its  best,  that  which 
was  at  first  palatable  has  become  unfit  for  use.  Dis 
cernment  in  the  knowledge  of  wines  is  a  natural  gift, 
as  the  gift  of  oratory  or  of  music.  The  connoisseur 
can  judge  of  wines,  and  tell  you  the  vintage  of  twenty 


276  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

different  varieties  without  ever  making  a  mistake.  In 
order  to  be  a  good  authority  one  must  place  one's 
self  outside  of  prejudices  in  regard  to  soil,  climate,  or 
locality.  One  does  not  want  the  same  kind  of  grapes 
for  claret  as  for  white  wines.  Certain  varieties  of 
grapes  would  not  produce  sauterne.  The  grapes  here 
being  introduced  with  a  view  to  propagating  them  are 
the  semillon,  the  sauvignon  blanc,  and  muscatel  de 
bordelai,  all  said  to  produce  wines  of  the  sauterne 
or  chateau  yquem  order.  These  varieties  do  well 
here,  or  in  fact  in  any  climate  which  produces  in  the 
grape  a  great  proportion  of  sugar ;  while  in  a  cold 
country  they  ripen  late,  and  their  wine  would  be  more 
like  the  ordinary  dry  wine,  or  white  wine,  lacking  the 
peculiar  mildness  of  sauterne.  "  We  are  hoping  to 
make  sauterne  here,"  says  the  manager,  Mr.  Mclntyre, 
"  but  we  cannot  tell  anything  about  it  till  we  try  it. 
During  the  picking  season  we  turn  in  the  sheep  and 
they  eat  up  the  leaves,  and,  at  the  same  time  destroy 
the  parasites,  particularly  the  eggs  of  the  vine-hopper 
or  thrip.  Others  have  been  turning  in  sheep  since 
we  first  did  it,  so  that  it  is  beginning  to  be  quite  fre 
quently  done.  Some  buy  a  flock  of  sheep  and  turn 
them  in  among  the  grapes,  and  after  they  have  eaten 
up  all  the  leaves,  turn  around  and  sell  the  sheep 
again.  Sheep  thrive  on  it ;  and  if  there  are  any 
grasses  growing  among  the  vines  they  eat  them  too. 
Of  course  they  tread  a  vineyard  up  somewhat,  but  if 
they  are  not  turned  in  after  a  rainfall  they  will  not 
hurt  it  much,  otherwise  they  will  pack  the  ground 
up  and  make  it  hard." 

Both  the  owner  and  manager  of  Vina  vineyard 
take  broad  views  as  to  the  effect  for  good  or  evil 
arising  from  the  habitual  use  of  wine.  Its  general 
use  among  the  people  as  a  beverage  in  the  family,  on 
the  dinner  table,  is  beneficial  rather  than  detrimental. 
Whatever  children  are  denied  they  are  apt  to  crave 
the  more.  Men  accustomed  from  childhood  to  the 
daily  use  of  wine  are  less  apt  to  fall  into  excess  than 


LELAND  STANFORD.  277 

when  it  is  drunk  occasionally  in  the  way  of  sociability. 
From  personal  observation  in  Europe  Mr  Stanford 
became  convinced  that  in  wine-drinking  nations  was 
not  found  the  most  drunkenness.  Very  temperate 
wine-drinkers  dilute  their  wine  with  water.  When 
habitual  wine-drinkers  get  drunk  it  is  usually  from 
whiskey  or  brandy.  Said  Mr  Stanford  on  one  occa 
sion  :  "  If  I  believed  the  use  of  wine  was  hurtful  to 
the  human  race  I  would  pull  up  every  vine  I  have." 

The  natural  fruit  acids  in  wine  counterbalance  any 
injurious  effect.  These  acids  are  required  by  the 
system  to  aid  assimilation,  and  so  healthily  acting 
prevent  the  tendency  to  stronger  drink.  Wine  has 
not  the  effect  of  alcohol.  Speaking  of  the  physical 
development  of  men  who  drink  wine,  you  will  find  no 
more  stalwart  set  of  laborers  than  Spaniards  and 
Frenchmen  ;  they  are  strong,  muscular,  and  able  to 
endure  sustained  physical  exertion.  A  man  is  built 
up  according  to  his  food,  to  a  certain  extent ;  wine 
enters  into  the  physical  composition  very  largely. 
When  you  look  at  the  Greeks,  for  instance,  you  see 
splendid  specimens  of  manhood  ;  and  there  are  places 
in  that  country  where,  as  you  pass  along  the  road,  a 
key  is  hanging  within  reach,  and  you  help  yourself 
to  whatever  you  wish  in  the  wine-vaults. 

In  the  matter  of  labor  for  orchards  and  vineyards, 
boys  from  the  city  have  been  employed,  some  doing 
well ;  others  are  hoodlums  and  must  be  soon  sent 
away ;  while  still  others  are  inclined  to  treat  the 
matter  as  a  holiday  and  play  rather  than  work. 
There  are  kinds  of  work  which  white  men  will  not 
do,  and  for  which  Chinamen  are  employed.  The 
Chinese  are  good  workers  and  will  do  as  they  are 
told  when  they  once  understand.  The  solution  of 
the  labor  question  as  applied  to  orchards  and  vine 
yards  will  probably  be  in  cutting  up  the  large  tracts. 
In  entering  upon  this  enterprise  Mr  Stanford's  sole 
instruction  to  his  manager  was,  "Whatever  we  do, 
let  us  do  it  well." 


278  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

Mr  Stanford  regards  California  as  the  best  wine 
country  in  the  world,  and  he  has  personally  examined 
most  of  the  others.  Her  soil  is  generally  rich,  and 
the  long  dry  season  enables  fruit  to  ripen  properly. 
Finish  cultivating  in  the  spring  and  there  are  no 
troublesome  weeds  until  winter.  All  through  the 
summer  no  work  is  required  to  keep  the  land  clean, 
so  that  undivided  attention  can  be  given  to  gathering 
when  the  fruit  is  ready.  In  France  they  have  to 
work  continually  to  keep  the  weeds  down,  which 
requires  fifty  per  cent  more  labor  than  here.  Then, 
in  starting  a  vineyard,  we  can  profit  by  the  experience 
of  others.  In  France  the  vines  are  too  near  together, 
the  rows  being  but  four  feet  apart,  and  the  vines 
fifteen  inches  from  each  other.  It  was  Mr  Stanford 
who  discovered  that  the  vines  having  sufficient  mois 
ture  are  not  subject  to  certain  insect  pests  like  those 
which  have  not.  All  kinds  of  remedies  were  tried  on 
the  supposition  that  it  was  due  to  a  worm  living  in 
the  ground,  when  Mr  Stanford  advanced  the  theory 
that  it  was  not  a  worm,  but  a  fly  which  laid  its  eggs 
in  a  crack,  and  if  the  crack  was  prevented  from  form 
ing  the  vine  could  not  be  troubled.  His  vineyard  can 
now  produce  over  a  million  gallons  of  wine  a  year. 

Chief  executive  of  Mr  Stanford's  estates  is  his 
brother-in-law,  Mr  Ariel  Lathrop,  in  whom  is  com 
bined  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  ability  to  com 
prehend  great  plans  thorough  systemization  and 
promptness  of  execution.  Mr  Stanford  is  often  absent 
from  the  state  for  months,  and  judging  from  the 
perfect  system  of  accounts  in  vogue  at  Palo  Alto 
farm  it  is  safe  to  say  that  every  penny  of  the  many 
millions  expended  each  year  can  be  accounted  for, 
and  vouchers  showing  the  full  transaction  produced. 
Before  coming  to  California  to  take  charge  of  Gov 
ernor  Stanford's  business  interests  Mr  Lathrop  had 
been  engaged  in  the  banking  business  at  Albany, 
New  York,  and  each  field,  herd,  flock,  and  crop  has 
its  separate  account  as  carefully  kept  as  the  books  of 


LELAND  STANFORD.  279 

a  bank,  and  after  a  method  devised  by  him  so  simple 
and  complete  as  to  require  on  the  Palo  Alto  farm  but 
a  portion  of  the  time  of  his  clerk.  The  pay-roll  of 
Palo  Alto  calls  for  an  expenditure  for  labor  of  about 
$7,000  each  month,  and  yet  the  time  occupied  in 
making  the  monthly  payment  is  usually  not  in  excess 
of  one  hour,  each  man  signing  the  pay-roll.  Every 
thing  is  done  on  some  system  which  experience  had 
approved  ;  nothing  guessed  at,  nothing  left  to  chance 
or  luck.  Mr  Lathrop  is  an  ardent  admirer  of  the 
Korse,  and  few  men  are  his  superiors  in  a  close  and 
critical  analysis  of  the  merits  of  the  different  animals 
on  this  vast  establishment.  He  is  justly  proud  of  the 
success  of  Palo  Alto  farm  and  its  horses. 

And  now  let  us  turn  once  more  to  Mr  Stanford's 
political  career,  of  which  some  of  the  more  important 
incidents  still  remain  to  be  told.  In  November  1884, 
on  the  eve  of  the  state  and  presidential  elections  he 
returned  from  Europe.  Soon  afterward,  being  called 
upon  by  a  member  of  congress,  one  of  his  most  inti 
mate  friends,  the  conversation  turned  on  the  republi 
can  choice  for  United  States  senator.  It  was  Mr 
Stanford's  wish  that  A.  A.  Sargent  should  be  the 
man  selected,  and  this  he  never  ceased  to  urge  on  his 
friends.  But  by  his  own  friends  and  by  the  republi 
can  party  in  general  he  was  himself  regarded  as  the 
proper  candidate.  In  vain  he  protested ;  in  vain  he 
besought  them  to  leave  him  alone ;  in  vain  he  flatly 
refused  to  take  any  part  in  the  coming  campaign ;  his 
friends  would  make  the  fight  for  him,  and  this  they 
did  against  all  his  protests  and  remonstrances.  Thus 
in  January  1885  he  was  chosen  senator  by  the  legis 
lature  of  California.  When  the  choice  was  made  he 
received  from  the  press  of  that  state,  without  distinc 
tion,  as  to  party  or  preferences,  an  ovation  as  sponta 
neous  as  it  was  deserved,  the  vote  which  he  received 
being  the  largest  cast  within  a  period  of  twenty  years. 
An  editorial  in  the  leading  journal  on  the  philosophy 


280  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

of  the  senatorial  election  says :  "  Perhaps  no  higher, 
certainly  no  juster  tribute  can  be  paid  to  him  than  to 
say  that  he  is  precisely  the  same  man  now,  in  all  that 
makes  him  representative  and  fit,  that  he  was  when 
the  people  first  chose  him,  then  a  poor  man,  to  lead 
the  forlorn  republican  hope,  over  a  quarter  of  a  cen 
tury  ago.  Defeat  only  developed  his  greater  capacity 
for  leadership,  and  while  still  a  toiling  merchant  of 
narrow  means,  he  was  again  put  to  the  front  of  the 
new-born  party  and  led  the  raw  recruits  of  progress 
and  intelligence  to  a  splendid  victory.  As  the  chief 
executive  of  the  young  state  he  developed  those  mas 
terly  administrative  qualities  which  gave  him  what 
ever  of  political  prominence  he  now  has.  Since  then 
he  has  become  a  man  of  wealth  ;  but  the  narrow- 
sighted  will  make  a  grave  mistake  if  they  attribute 
to  that  fact  his  recall  to  political  activity.  His  abili 
ties  ripened,  his  business  capacity  matured  by  two 
decades  of  unsurpassed  experience  ;  as  a  rich  man  he 
is  unquestionably  a  more  prominent  and  useful  figure 
than  when  as  a  poor  man  he  met  defeat  to  succeed 
later  on.  But  his  reelection,  while  not  influenced  by 
the  factor  of  opportunity  which  wealth  certainly 
gives,  has  a  deeper  genesis  than  that ;  it  reverts  to 
the  manhood  thus  favored,  lying  back  of  the  wealth 
he  possesses.  Rich  in  worldly  goods  as  he  is,  he 
could  not  have  been  made  senator,  as  he  has  been, 
had  he  not  been  Leland  Stanford  the  man,  considered 
apart  from  Leland  Stanford  the  millionaire." 

In  regard  to  labor  and  capital,  and  particularly 
cooperation,  Mr  Stanford  entertains  pronounced  views. 
There  is  a  senseless  antagonism  between  capital  and 
labor,  between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  between  the 
conservative  and  the  communistic.  It  seldom  occurs 
to  the  rich  or  the  poor  that  the  poor  are  as  necessary 
to  the  rich  as  the  rich  are  to  the  poor ;  that  were 
there  no  poor  there  could  be  no  rich,  though  not  vice 
versa,  because  in  some  communities  we  find  the  whole 
population  poor,  in  which  case  there  is  little  intelli- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  281 

gence  and  progression.  In  the  ultimate  expression  of 
our  western  civilization  there  is  an  influence  which 
tends  to  make  of  all  men  one  creation.  If  the  gen 
erality  of  men  were  rich  and  the  small  minority  poor, 
the  latter  might  not  unreasonably  congratulate  them 
selves  upon  possessing  the  true  advantages  of  wealth 
in  escaping  its  burdens.  The  low  element  from  Europe, 
who  do  not  hesitate  to  use  force  to  gain  their  object, 
would,  if  they  had  the  power,  rule  the  whole  United 
States ;  nor  does  it  require  the  wisdom  of  a  prophet 
to  foretell  the  sad  condition  we  would  be  in  if  such 
people  had  full  sway.  They  confound  power  with 
liberty  and  license.  They  see  the  land  in  America  so 
productive,  and  everything  tending  so  greatly  to  com 
fort,  that  they  regard  wealth  as  all-powerful,  and  look 
upon  the  wealthy  as  their  common  enemy  ;  whereas, 
a  wealthy  man  needs  but  little  more  for  his  personal 
wants  than  a  poor  man  ;  and  if  the  wealthy  had  a 
just  conception  of  their  responsibilities,  they  could 
and  would  by  the  distribution  of  their  patronage 
convince  even  these  people  that  after  all  the  wealthy 
are  but  the  trustees  of  the  masses. 

The  ideas  of  one  should  be  the  means  of  advancing 
many.  In  every  cooperative  association  some  have 
more  advanced  ideas  than  others,  and  which  all  may 
profit  by.  It  is  the  general  dissemination  of  knowl 
edge  by  the  press  that  accounts  for  the  wonderful 
progress  made  in  this  country.  The  great  discoveries 
in  mechanics  made  during  the  present  century  have 
placed  our  ability  to  achieve  grand  results  upon  a 
much  higher  plane  than  ever  before.  Legislators 
should  make  laws  which  will  assist  the  people,  and 
enable  the  poor  to  cooperate.  Cooperation  is  antago 
nistic  to  monopoly.  Formerly  corporations  were  cre 
ated  by  kings  and  potentates  as  monopolies  ;  but 
modern  cooperation  is  not  monopoly. 

There  are  two  sources  of  wealth,  one  for  the  mate 
rial  requirements  of  man,  and  the  other  liberty  to 
enjoy.  Both  property  and  liberty  depend  upon  pro- 


282  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

duction,  and  the  nation  which  stores  up  wealth,  like 
the  individual  with  capital,  is  the  most  powerful  and 
cultivated.  There  is  no  limit  to  man's  wants  until 
the  limits  of  his  powers  of  imagination  are  reached  ; 
and  not  even  then,  for  they  are  never  satisfied  ;  appe 
tite  for  riches  is  increased  by  what  it  feeds  on. 

There  should  be  sympathy  between  employer  and 
laborer  ;  their  interests  are  in  so  many  respects  iden 
tical  ;  each  is  equally  dependent  upon  the  other.  The 
value  of  labor  depends  upon  the  power  of  production. 
There  will  always  be  competition  among  employers, 
because  whenever  the  percentage  of  gain  becomes 
laro-e  others  are  tempted  to  adventure  capital  and 
labor  in  like  direction.  One  will  not  hire  another  to 
work  unless  it  be  to  the  advantage  of  the  employer, 
who  can  tell  better  than  the  employed  what  he  can 
afford  to  pay.  Therefore  it  is  not  for  him  who  sells 
his  labor  to  dictate  the  price.  It  is  not  for  the  idle 
to  determine  what  the  industrious  and  provident  shall 
pay,  for  then  would  the  improvident  man  and  idler 
have  a  lien  on  the  provident  and  industrious. 

On  the  20th  of  December  1886,  Mr  Stanford  intro 
duced  a  bill  in  the  United  States  senate  to  encourage 
business  cooperation  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
The  bill  declares  association  to  be  a  natural  right,  the 
exercise  of  which  enables  persons  of  little  or  no  means 
to  unite  their  strength  and  intelligence  in  a  common 
enterprise,  and  the  passage  of  liberal  laws  will  encour 
age  the  formation  of  such  associations.  Therefore, 
any  two  or  more  persons  may  associate  for  the  pur 
pose  of  conducting  any  lawful  business,  prepare  arti 
cles  giving  the  name  and  purpose  of  such  association, 
place  of  business,  term,  number  of  managers,  and 
capital ;  or  if  there  be  no  capital  employed,  then  the 
amount  of  labor  to  be  performed  by  each  member, 
and  the  manner  of  the  division  of  profits. 

On  the  16th  day  of  February  1887  he  rose  in  the 
senate  and  said  :  "  The  bill  which  I  have  introduced 
provides  for  the  association  and  organization  of  indi- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  283 

viduals  with  or  without  capital.  It  gives  no  exclusive 
privileges,  and  is  intended  only  to  aid  the  natural  right 
of  association.  In  a  large  sense,  civilization  itself  rests 
and  advances  on  the  great  principles  of  cooperation. 
The  industries,  the  thoughts,  the  great  ideas  which 
produce  vast  and  beneficial  results,  find  their  full 
development  in  association.  Thus  the  discoveries  in 
art  and  in  science  are  distributed  or  availed  of;  and 
they  inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  whole  community, 
often  to  the  whole  civilized  world.  So  the  organiza 
tion  of  individuals  for  a  common  purpose  gives  the 
strength,  the  capacity  of  the  ablest  to  all  in  the  asso 
ciation.  The  weakest,  and  the  one  of  the  least  capac 
ity,  is  brought  up  in  advantages  to  the  level  of  the 
best.  The  result  of  this  association  is  to  bring  the 
individuals  of  the  association  closer  to  the  entire  fruits 
of  their  united  industries.  With  a  greater  intelligence 
and  with  a  better  understanding  of  the  principles  of 
cooperation,  the  adoption  of  them  in  practise  will,  in 
time,  I  imagine,  cause  most  of  the  industries  of  the 
country  to  be  carried  on  by  these  cooperative  associ 
ations.  The  cooperation  of  individuals  in  kindred 
pursuits  would  have  the  effect  of  furnishing,  from 
their  variety  of  labor,  continuous  employment.  Thus 
a  combination  of  men  could  even  do  farming,  ren 
dering  for  hire  their  services  to  the  farmers,  and  might 
find  that  continuity  of  labor  so  important  to  the 
laborer  and  conducive  to  the  maximum  power  of  pro 
duction  which  arises  from  constant  employment. 

"A  country's  prosperity  must  always  mainly  depend 
upon  its  power  of  production.  This  is  to  be  brought 
about  by  the  most  intelligent  direction  and  application 
of  labor.  Abundant  illustrations  might  be  given  to 
show  that  the  value  of  the  labor  of  an  individual,  like 
the  wealth  of  a  country,  will  depend  upon  the  power 
of  production.  The  most  notable  example  of  this  is 
to  be  found  in  the  production  of  wheat  in  Egypt,  in 
India,  and  in  America.  Wheat  is  raised  in  all  these 
countries  to  compete  in  the  same  market — England. 


284  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

The  compensation  to  the  laborer  on  the  banks  of  the 
Nile  is  a  red  radish,  in  India  about  five  cents  a  day. 
In  my  own  state,  California,  the  harvester  receives  $2 
per  day,  forty  times  as  much  as  his  competitor  received 
in  India.  Now  these  comparatively  high  wages  could 
not  be  paid  except  upon  a  comparatively  large  pro 
duction.  The  man  in  California  receives  forty  times 
as  much  for  a  day's  labor  as  a  man  in  India,  or  the 
wages  of  one  man  in  California  equal  those  of  forty 
men  in  India ;  and  yet  he  competes  successfully, 
because  he  avails  himself  of  the  genius  of  inventors 
— cuts  and  threshes  and  puts  into  a  sack  a  hundred 
pounds  of  wheat  for  a  cent  and  a  half.  And  so  in 
every  other  field  of  labor  the  compensation  will  always 
be  in  proportion  to  the  production.  The  earth  yields 
abundantly,  through  labor,  to  supply  the  wants  of 
mankind.  Her  yield  of  supplies  for  the  necessaries, 
the  comforts,  the  elegancies,  and  the  splendors  of  life 
are  only  measured  by  the  amount  of  intelligent  labor 
that  is  applied  to  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  to  the 
working  of  mines,  of  quarries,  and  of  forests  and 
their  products  ;  and  if  there  is  want  among  the  provi 
dent  and  industrious  it  must  be  for  the  lack  of  the 
intelligent  direction  and  application  of  labor.  How 
far  these  wants  may  be  supplied  by  legislation  is  a 
problem,  but  I  believe  much  aid  may  be  given. 

"  In  the  history  of  nations  want  of  the  commonest 
necessaries  has  been  the  rule.  Hitherto  governments 
have  been  founded  in  force,  maintained  in  force,  and 
the  principal  thought  has  been  to  increase  the  force, 
or  to  so  organize  it  as  to  preserve  the  government. 
Hence  the  large  standing  armies  of  Europe  to-day. 
The  theory  of  our  government  is  that  it  was  insti 
tuted  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  ;  that  there  are 
unalienable  rights,  rights  which  are  superior  to  consti 
tutions  and  laws,  securing  the  individual  in  his  rights  of 
liberty,  property,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  even  to 
the  extent  of  commanding  the  support  of  every  other 
citizen  in  the  whole  country.  These  great  principles, 


LELAND  STANFORD.  285 

securing  the  freedom  and  the  rights  of  the  individual, 
insure  to  us  forever  a  free  government,  so  long  as  the 
intelligence  of  the  people  is  adequate  in  appreciating 
the  principles  upon  which  their  government  is  founded. 
Hence  we  need  no  great  standing  armies  to  overawe 
and  menace  the  people,  and  our  time  and  thoughts 
can  be  directed  to  their  general  development  and  to 
improvement  in  their  condition.  It  is  in  the  hope  of 
strengthening  and  developing  the  intelligence  and  the 
productive  power  of  the  individual  without  capital,  or 
with  but  little,  that  I  have  introduced  this  bill,  believ 
ing  it  to  be  one  great  step  toward  attaining  the  high 
est  possibility  of  abundance  of  the  necessaries  and 
comforts  of  life  for  every  industrious  and  provident 
individual. 

"  I  believe  that  cooperation  will  bring  out  the  high 
est  capacities  of  those  engaged  in  it.  It  will  impart 
to  each  individual  the  stimulus  of  knowing  that  he 
or  she  may  enjoy  the  full  fruits  of  his  or  her  skill 
and  energy  in  their  calling.  In  those  countries  where 
there  is  the  most  intelligence  there  is  the  greatest  use 
made  of  labor-aiding  machinery  ;  and  where  this  labor- 
aiding  machinery  is  used  most,  as  in  our  country, 
there  the  compensation  of  the  laborer  is  the  largest. 
Even  in  Europe  those  countries  that  make  most  use 
of  labor-aiding  machinery  have  the  best  compensation 
for  their  labor.  Occasionally  there  is  evidence  of 
apprehension  that  labor-aiding  machinery  may  deprive 
the  laborer  of  the  demand  for  his  services,  but  any 
apprehension  of  that  kind  must  readily  disappear  with 
the  reflection  that  the  wants  of  humanity  are  as 
boundless  as  the  intelligence  and  capacity  to  conceive. 
With  the  ignorance  of  the  Digger  Indian  there  are 
few  wants,  no  intelligence  to  conceive,  and  the  demand 
for  the  labor  supply  of  others  is  of  the  most  limited 
kind.  The  more  intelligent  the  people  the  greater 
are  their  wants,  and  with  those  increased  wants  the 
greater  the  demand  for  labor ;  and,  in  the  universal 
ity  of  labor,  the  greater  the  capacity  of  individuals 


286  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

and    communities   to  make   exchange   of  their  pro 
ductions. 

"  I  have  the  hope  and  the  faith  that  the  principles 
of  our  government,  of  our  great  bill  of  rights  as  set 
forth  in  the  declaration  of  independence,  will  yet  per 
vade  the  whole  civilized  world  ;  and  as  these  ideas  are 
adopted,  and  as  they  expand  into  the  control  of  gov 
ernments,  so  will  disappear  great  standing  armies ; 
non-producers  will  be  changed  into  fruitful  producers, 
adding  to  the  comforts  and  happiness  of  humanity. 
Then  the  principal  attention  of  the  governments  will 
be  directed  toward  developing  the  arts  of  peace,  and 
making  humanity  more  happy.  On  proposing  the 
passage  of  a  law  of  this  kind  there  is  in  it  only  an 
extension  to  persons  without  capital  of  the  pro 
visions  that  have  existed  heretofore  in  the  laws  pro 
vided  for  the  association  of  those  with  capital.  There 
is  no  invasion  of  the  principles  of  association  which 
have,  happily,  done  so  much  in  the  development  of  the 
resources  of  our  country,  and  proved  such  a  stimulus 
to  its  industry.  The  principles  of  cooperation  of 
individuals  is  a  most  democratic  one.  It  enables  the 
requisite  combination  of  numbers  and  capital  to 
eno-acre  in  and  develop  every  enterprise  of  promise, 
however  large.  It  is  the  absolute  protection  of  the 
people  against  the  possible  monopoly  of  the  few  and 
renders  offensive  monopoly,  and  a  burdensome  one, 
impossible.  The  only  possible  monopoly,  with  these 
laws  in  existence,  is  one  of  beneficence,  and  to  the 
extent  that  the  wants  and  condition  of  the  people  can 
be  better  supplied  than  by  any  other  means.  So  far, 
only,  can  there  be  a  monopoly  in  our  country  under 
these  laws  of  cooperation. 

"  One  of  the  greatest  advantages  of  association  of 
this  kind  is  that  in  case  of  disagreement,  death,  or 
failure  of  individuals,  the  organization  goes  on  ;  and 
ia  this  respect  it  is  freed  from  the  disadvantages  of 
an  ordinary  partnership.  Besides,  the  diverse  capaci 
ties  of  the  different  individuals,  whatever  they  may 


LELAND  STANFORD.  287 

be,  unite  to  make  up  a  great  whole  of  strength  and  of 
large  capacity.  One  of  the  difficulties  in  the  employ 
ment  of  women  arises  from  their  domestic  duties  ;  but 
cooperation  would  provide  for  a  general  utilization  of 
their  capacities,  arid  permit  the  prosecution  of  their 
business  without  harm,  because  of  the  temporary 
incapacity  of  the  individual  to  prosecute  her  calling. 
And  if  this  cooperation  shall  relieve  them  of  the 
temporary  incapacity  arising  from  the  duties  incident 
to  motherhood,  then  their  capacity  for  production 
may  be  utilized  to  the  greatest  extent.  Very  many 
)f  the  industries  should  be  open  to  and  managed  as 
well  by  women  in  their  cooperative  capacity  as  by 
men.  The  moral  influence  of  cooperation  is  very 
great.  All  in  the  organization  are  interested  in  the 
welfare  and  good  conduct  of  every  other  member. 
All  the  good  influences  of  the  whole  are  brought  to 
bear  in  favor  of  the  individual,  and  all  the  individual 
members  unite  to  make  the  whole  most  powerful  for 
the  accomplishment  of  results." 

The  objects  to  be  attained  by  the  bill  were  more 
fully  explained  by  Senator  Stanford  in  conversation 
with  a  representative  of  the  New  York  Tribune  in 
San  Francisco.  This  I  shall  give  in  full,  since  it 
contains  a  most  lucid  and  forcible  exposition  of  the 
mutual  relations  of  labor  and  capital,  and  of  the  advan 
tages  of  cooperation.  "  The  great  advantage  to  labor," 
he  said,  "arising  out  of  cooperative  effort  has  been 
apparent  to  me  for  many  years.  From  my  earliest 
acquaintance  with  the  science  of  political  economy,  it 
has  been  evident  to  my  mind  that  capital  was  the 
product  of  labor,  and  that  therefore,  in  its  best  analy 
sis,  there  could  be  no  natural  conflict  between  capital 
and  labor,  because  there  could  be  no  antagonism 
between  cause  and  effect,  between  effort  and  the  result 
of  effort ;  and,  since  capital  is  the  product  of  labor, 
there  could  be  no  conflict  between  labor  and  its  pro 
duct.  Keeping  this  fundamental  principle  in  view,  it 
is  obvious  that  the  seeming  antagonism  between  capi- 


288  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

tal  and  labor  is  the  result  of  deceptive  appearance. 
I  have  always  been  fully  persuaded  that,  through 
cooperation,  labor  could  become  its  own  employer. 
The  investment  and  employment  of  capital  is  depend 
ent  entirely  upon  the  product  of  the  labor  employed 
by  it.  All  active  labor  is  merely  capital  employing 
labor.  It  is  out  of  the  product  of  labor  so  employed 
that  capital  is  rewarded.  Capital  invested  in  a  man 
ner  not  to  require  the  employment  of  labor  is  dead  or 
idle  capital.  Money  invested  in  land  where  the  land 
is  not  cultivated,  or  in  buildings  which  are  untenanted, 
is  as  idle  as  if  the  gold  and  silver  invested  in  them 
had  never  been  mined ;  but  all  capital  employed  in 
manufactures,  in  agriculture,  in  commerce,  in  arts,  in 
transportation  is  active  capital,  and  it  is  sustained  and 
supported  in  activity  wholly  out  of  the  result  of  the 
labor  it  employs.  Labor  and  capital,  thus  associated, 
then  create  all  the  reward  which  inures  to  them. 

"  All  things  have  value  in  proportion  to  their  sus 
ceptibility  of  becoming  valuable  by  the -addition  of 
labor.  The  ore  in  the  mind  has  value  only  because 
of  its  capability  of  being  converted  by  the  application 
of  labor,  under  the  direction  of  enterprise,  into  things 
useful  to  man.  Land  is  valuable  only  in  proportion 
as  it  is  capable  of  yielding  to  the  labor  expended  upon 
it  a  return  in  the  way  of  products  adapted  to  supply 
human  wants.  The  value  of  everything  in  the  raw 
or  unwrought  material  depends  entirely  upon  its  sus 
ceptibility  of  being  converted  into  property,  and  the 
conversion  of  the  original  raw  materials  into  property, 
in  the  way  of  wares,  merchandise,  fabrics,  or  works 
of  art,  resides  wholly  in  their  capability,  under  the 
manipulation  of  labor,  of  being  so  converted. 

"  Thus  again  we  find  the  wealth  of  the  world  to  be 
in  the  product  of  labor.  Labor  is  the  creator  of  capi 
tal,  and  capital  is  in  the  nature  of  stored  up  force. 
It  is  like  the  balance-wheel  of  an  engine,  which  has 
no  motion  which  has  not  been  imparted  to  it,  but  is 
a  reservoir  of  force  which  will  perpetuate  the  motion 


LELAND  STANFORD.  289 

of  the  machinery  after  the  propelling  power  has 
ceased.  A  man  takes  a  few  thousand  dollars  of 
capital,  builds  a  workshop,  buys  raw  material  advan 
tageously,  and  engages  a  hundred  workmen  to  manu 
facture  boots  and  shoes.  This  is  the  foundation  of 
enterprise.  The  employer  of  labor  is  a  benefactor. 
The  great  majority  of  mankind  do  not  originate 
employments  by  themselves.  They  either  have  not 
the  disposition  or  the  ability  to  so  originate  and  direct 
their  own  employment.  Whatever  may  be  the  fault, 
it  is  true  that  the  majority  of  mankind  are  employed 
by  the  minority.  Capital  directed  by  intelligent 
enterprise  is  a  vast  benefactor  to  man.  The  man 
who,  through  others,  makes  to  grow  two  blades  of 
grass  where  but  one  grew  before,  is  a  benefactor  to 
mankind  in  the  largest  sense  ;  but  suppose  that  each 
of  the  one  hundred  workmen  employed  produce  in 
excess  of  his  wages  the  value  of  one  dollar  a  day. 
One  dollar  a  day  for  each  aggregated  gives  one  hun 
dred  dollars  per  day  to  the  employer.  The  profit  to 
the  employer  then  is  one  hundred  dollars  per  day. 
In  the  aggregate  the  one  hundred  men  employed,  by 
associating  their  effort  and  their  credit,  and  possibly 
their  capital,  could  command  a  sufficiency  of  that 
reserve  force  which  we  call  capital  to  build  the  shop 
and  purchase  the  material  with  which  to  start  busi 
ness.  If  they  do  not  possess  the  capital  in  the 
aggregate,  I  am  fully  persuaded  that  one  hundred 
industrious,  sober,  skilful  mechanics,  agreeing  to  com 
bine  their  labor,  industry,  and  intelligence,  would 
possess  sufficient  credit  to  command  the  capital  neces 
sary  to  lay  the  foundation  of  enterprise.  As  between 
this  outline  of  cooperation  and  the  old  system  of  per 
mitting  labor  to  be  hired  and  directed  by  one  who,  in 
the  prosecution  of  beneficial  enterprise,  originates 
employment  for  these  one  hundred  men,  there  is  a 
difference  in  favor  of  cooperation  of  one  hundred  dol 
lars  a  day,  that  amount  being  the  premium  which 
the  one  hundred  men  used  in  illustration  would  pay 

C.  B.— II.     19 


200  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

to  some  one  else  for  originating  their  employment  and 
directing  their  skill. 

"  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  labor 
employed  not  only  creates  its  own  wages,  but  creates 
the  premium  which  the  enterprising  proprietor 
receives  for  originating  the  employment.  Viewed 
from  this  standpoint  there  is  a  sense  in  which  the 
labor  so  cooperating  is  hiring  an  employer — that  is,  it 
is  paying  a  premium  to  enterprise  to  originate  and 
direct  its  employment.  Capital  is  paramount,  and 
labor  subordinate  only  because  labor  consents  to  that 
form  of  organization  in  our  industries  which  produces 
that  result.  The  value  of  cooperative  effort  has  had 
many  practical  illustrations,  some  of  which  have 
come  under  my  observation.  In  the  early  history  of 
mining  in  California  some  of  the  largest  and  most 
profitable  mining  enterprises  were  projected  an^l  car 
ried  on  by  association  alone.  A  large  number  of  men 
possessed  of  productive  capacity,  but  without  capital, 
combined  into  cooperative  relation,  energy,  and  ability 
equal  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  work  in  hand. 
The  work  to  be  done  required  so  many  days  of  labor. 
By  their  association  they  contributed  to  a  common 
fund,  as  it  were,  a  laboring  capacity  equal  to  the 
work  to  be  accomplished.  If  these  enterprises  had 
been  projected  by  a  single  capitalist,  the  first  step 
would  have  been  to  engage  an  amount  of  labor  neces 
sary  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  work — that  is,  to 
purchase  the  labor.  Instead,  therefore,  of  selling  the 
labor  to  a  single  far-sighted  and  enterprising  employer, 
these  men  contributed  by  subscription  the  amount  of 
labor  required  to  be  performed.  The  work  accom 
plished  in  this  way  gave  all  the  result  attained  to  the 
labor  expended  upon  it. 

"  Undertakings  of  great  magnitude  are  more  pro 
fitable  than  the  more  inconsiderable  enterprises,  because 
the  greater  undertakings  require  greater  aggregations 
of  capital,  and  the  possession  of  large  capital  is 
enjoyed  but  by  few.  There  is  no  undertaking  open 


LELAND  STANFORD.  291 

capital,  however  great  the  amount  involved,  that 
not  accessible  to  a  certain  amount  of  labor,  volun- 
irily  associated  and  intelligently  directing  its  own 
effort.  When  an  individual  employs  one  hundred  or 
me  thousand  men  in  the  manufacture  of  wares,  in 
construction  of  buildings,  or  in  the  prosecution  of 
my  kind  of  enterprise,  he  has  in  fact  formed  an  asso 
ciation  of  labor.  The  efforts  of  the  men  employed 
:e  associated  in  the  accomplishment  of  any  desired 
jsult,  and  it  is  out  of  the  result  of  such  effort  that 
ill  the  wages  and  all  the  premium  to  the  employer 
are  to  be  produced.  The  employers  of  labor  are  the 
greatest  benefactors  to  mankind.  They  promote 
industry ;  they  foster  a  spirit  of  enterprise ;  they 
conceive  all  the  great  plans  to  which  the  possibilities 
of  civilization  invite  them ;  and  the  association  of 
laboring  men  into  cooperative  relation,  which  in  a 
large  measure  can  take  the  place  of  the  employer 
class,  must  therefore  of  necessity  be  ennobling. 

"  There  is  a  mischievous  belief  among  laboring 
people  that  enterprises  with  large  backing  of  capital 
offer  a  better  guaranty  of  employment.  This  is  not 
true.  The  only  guaranty  of  employment  is  its  profit 
ableness.  Capital  cannot  afford  continued  employ 
ment  to  labor  at  a,  loss.  Unless  the  product  of  the 
labor  yields  a  sufficient  return  out  of  which  wages 
may  be  paid,  and  the  enterprise  and  skill  of  the 
employer  properly  rewarded,  and  the  use  of  the  cap 
ital  also  rewarded,  the  enterprise  will  of  necessity  be 
abandoned.  In  short,  cooperative  associations  for 
the  prosecution  of  any  undertaking  stand  in  exactly 
the  same  relation,  possess  precisely  the  same  chances 
of  success,  if  the  effort  is  as  intelligently  directed,  as 
do  the  same  kind  of  enterprises  projected  by  individ 
uals  and  sustained  by  capital.  As  between  the  two 
great  plans,  the  cooperation  of  labor,  or  the  employ 
ment  of  labor  by  itself,  and  the  hiring  of  labor  for 
wages,  or  employment  of  labor  by  enterprise,  intelli 
gence,  and  capital,  the  latter  has  no  advantage  over 


292  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

the  former  in  the  way  of  a  guaranty  as  against  loss. 
The  product  of  labor  alone  insures  its  employment, 
because  employment  of  labor  cannot  continue  beyond 
the  point  at  which  it  is  profitable.  In  the  aggregate, 
labor  produces  all  the  money  paid  back  to  it  in  wages, 
and  all  the  margin  of  profit  which  inures  to  the 
employer.  It  is  preeminently  right  and  just  that  the 
employers  of  labor  and  capital  employed  in  producing 
activity  should  be  rewarded.  Labor  owes  a  continu 
ing  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  enterprise  and  intelligence 
of  the  employer  class.  The  thought,  attention,  intel 
ligence  and  skill  necessary  to  originate  profitable 
labor  is,  in  fact,  a  separate  department  of  human 
activity.  In  past  times,  when  labor  was  less  intelli 
gent  than  now,  when  the  opportunities  for  education 
among  working-men  were  more  restricted  and  limited 
than  at  present,  an  intelligent  employer  class  origi 
nating  and  directing  labor  wras  indispensable.  What 
I  believe  is,  the  time  has  come  when  the  laboring 
men  can  perform  for  themselves  the  office  of  becom 
ing  their  own  laborers ;  that  the  employer  class  is 
less  indispensable  in  the  modern  organization  of 
industries  because  the  laboring  men  themselves  pos 
sess  sufficient  intelligence  to  organize  into  cooperative 
relation  and  enjoy  the  entire  benefits  of  their  own 
labor.  Whenever  labor  is  sufficiently  intelligent  to 
do  this,  it  should  not  wait  patiently  for  its  own 
employment  by  capital  and  enterprise,  because  who 
ever  is  competent  to  -furnish  himself  employment,  and 
therefore  receive  the  full  result  of  his  own  effort,  and 
hires  out  his  time,  is  thereby  rendering  a  voluntary 
servitude  to  capital ;  and  every  man  possessed  of  indus 
trial  capacity  is  in  possession  of  capital,  for  it  is  out 
of  that  industrial  capacity  that  capital  is  sustained  in 
activity. 

"  Sufficient  productive  capacity  may  be  associated 
for  the  prosecution  of  almost  any  enterprise,  however 
great  its  magnitude,  because,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
the  employment  of  labor  by  capital,  is  in  a  sense  a 


LELAND  STANFORD.  293 

form  of  associating  labor  in  the  prosecution  of  under 
takings,  the  difference  being  that  voluntary  association 
of  labor  into  cooperative  relation  secures  to  itself 
both  the  wages  and  the  premium  which,  under  the 
other  form  of  industrial  organization,  would  be  paid 
to  the  enterprise  directing  it  and  to  the  capital  giving 
it  employment.  Capital  appears  to  have  an  ascend 
ancy  over  labor ;  and  so  long  as  our  industries  are 
organized  upon  the  divisions  of  employer  and  employe, 
so  long  will  capital  retain  that  relation,  but  associated 
labor  would  at  once  become  its  own  master.  The 
political  economists  and  the  communists  have  much  to 
say  concerning  the  distribution  of  wealth.  They 
are  constantly  declaring  that  while  our  country  pre 
sents  the  spectacle  of  a  government  wherein  there  is 
an  equal  distribution  of  political  power,  there  is  a 
great  disparity  of  condition  with  reference  to  the  pos 
session  of  wealth.  Many  writers  upon  the  science  of 
political  economy  have  declared  that  it  is  the  duty  of 
a  nation  first  to  encourage  the  creation  of  wealth,  and 
second  to  direct  and  control  its  distribution.  All 
such  theories  are  delusive.  The  production  of  wealth 
is  the  result  of  agreement  between  labor  and  capital, 
between  employer  and  employed.  Its  distribution, 
therefore, will  follow  the  law  of  its  creation,  or  great 
injustice  will  be  done.  The  individual  who  comes  to 
you  claiming  that  because  you  have  more  than  him 
self  you  should  divide  a  part  with  him,  is  claiming  a 
percentage  in  your  manhood,  a  share  in  your  produc 
tive  capacity.  He  is  denying  to  you  the  right  to  pro 
duce,  either  with  your  own  labor,  as  you  have  a  right 
to  do,  or  through  the  employment  of  the  labor  of 
others,  which  you  have  an  equal  right  to  do,  more 
than  a  bare  subsistence  for  yourself.  The  only  dis 
tribution  of  wealth  which  is  the  product  of  labor, 
which  will  be  honest,  will  come  through  a  more  equal 
distribution  of  the  productive  capacity  of  men,  and 
the  cooperative  principle  leads  directly  to  this  con 
summation. 


294  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

"All  legislative  experiments  in  the  way  of  making 
forcible  distribution  of  the  wealth  produced  in  any 
country  have  failed.  Their  first  effect  has  been  to 
destroy  wealth,  to  destroy  productive  industries,  to 
paralyze  enterprise,  and  to  inflict  upon  labor  the 
greatest  calamities  it  has  ever  encountered.  So  long 
as  labor,  which  is  sufficiently  intelligent  to  originate 
its  own  employment,  consents  to  a  voluntary  servi 
tude  of  paying  a  premium  to  those  who  originate 
their  employments,  so  long  will  the  many  remain 
comparatively  poor.  As  at  present  organized,  the 
industries  of  the  world  are  under  the  direction  of 
employers.  A  man  may  possess  industry  and  produc 
tive  capacity  and  skill,  but  he  must  first  make  an 
agreement  with  an  employer  before  he  can  make 
these  qualities  valuable  to  himself.  When  the  lord 
of  the  vineyard  at  the  eleventh  hour  of  the  day  found 
the  idlers  in  the  market-place,  and  questioned  them 
concerning  the  reason  of  their  idleness,  the  reply  was  : 
'  Because  no  man  hath  hired  us.'  They  were  wait 
ing,  just  as  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  laboring 
world  has  waited,  for  some  one  else  to  open  avenues 
of  employment.  But  aggregated  into  cooperative 
relation,  intelligent,  educated  labor  possesses  the 
capacity  for  the  accomplishment  of  any  undertaking 
or  enterprise,  and  need  not  wait  for  an  individual 
called  an  employer  to  associate  its  effort,  and  direct 
and  control  the  industry  out  of  which  it  earns  its 
wages  and  pays  premium  to  capital. 

"  Under  the  present  organization  of  our  industrial 
system  it  is  idle  to  say  that  the  men  in  the  market 
place  could  have  found  something  to  do.  It  is  equally 
idle  to  say  that  there  was  a  conflict  between  their 
interest  and  those  of  the  lord  of  the  vineyard  who 
gave  them  employment.  He  was  in  that  instance 
their  benefactor.  But  intelligent  labor  need  not 
wait  until  some  man  has  hired  it.  It  can  by  cooper 
ation  employ  itself.  There  are  mills  and  factories  and 
workshops  employing  large  numbers  of  skilled  hands, 


LELAND  STANFORD.  295 

wherein  the  capital  employed  is  far  less  than  the 
aggregate  of  money  owned  arid  controlled  by  the 
operatives,  and  yet  the  operatives  by  their  own  vol 
untary  consent  are  dependent  for  employment  entirely 
upon  the  thought,  the  intelligence,  and  the  enterprise 
of  an  employer.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  they 
receive  a  rate  of  wages  calculated  upon  the  basis  of 
a  productive  industry  which  will  create  the  wages 
paid  to  them,  and  also  create  a  profit  to  the  capital 
and  enterprise  employing  them.  There  is  no  natural 
conflict  between  capital  and  labor  even  in  this  rela 
tion.  There  is  no  conflict  between  the  capital  invested 
in  the  plant  of  a  manufactory,  and  the  raw  material 
upon  which  labor  is  expended,  on  the  one  side,  and 
the  labor  itself  on  the  other,  because  the  plant  and 
the  material  themselves  are  the  product  of  labor. 
The  real  conflict,  if  any  exists,  is  between  two  indus 
trial  systems.  Labor  desires  that  the  premium  paid 
for  its  employment  be  small.  If  it  could  succeed  in 
eliminating  that  premium  altogether  it  will  leave  no 
encouragement  to  the  employer  class;  and,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  under  the  present  system  the 
employer  class  is  not  only  indispensable,  but  is  a  great 
benefactor.  If,  however,  there  were  no  profit  what 
ever  to  the  employer  class  then  practical  cooperation 
would  be  realized. 

"  When,  therefore,  men  ask  for  higher  wages,  and 
demand  that  the  margin  of  profit  to  the  employer  shall 
be  less,  they  are  merely  demanding  a  nearer  approach 
to  the  realization  of  cooperation.  The  country  black 
smith  who  employs  no  journeymen  is  never  conscious 
of  any  conflict  between  the  capital  invested  in  his 
anvil,  hammer,  and  bellows,  and  the  labor  he  performs 
with  them,  because  in  fact  there  is  none.  If  he  takes 
in  a  partner,  and  the  two  join  their  labor  into  coop 
erative  relation,  there  is  still  no  point  at  which  a  con 
flict  may  arise  between  the  money  invested  in  the 
tools  and  the  labor  which  is  performed  with  them  ; 
and  if,  further,  in  pursuance  of  the  principle  of  coop- 


296  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

eration  he  takes  in  five  or  six  partners,  there  is  still 
complete  absence  of  all  conflict  between  labor  and 
capital.  But  if  he,  being  a  single  proprietor,  employs 
three  or  four  journeymen,  and  out  of  the  product  of 
their  labor  pays  them  wages,  and,  as  a  reward  for 
giving  them  employment  and  directing  their  labor, 
retains  to  himself  the  premium  which  they,  in  fact, 
also  create  and  which  justly  belongs  to  him,  the  line 
of  differance  between  the  wages  and  the  premium 
may  become  a  disputed  one  ;  but  it  should  be  clearly 
perceived  that  the  dispute  is  not  between  capital  and 
labor,  but  beween  the  partial  and  actual  realization 
of  cooperation.  The  partnership  relation  was  an 
actual  realization  of  cooperative  effort.  As  intelli 
gence  has  increased  and  been  more  widely  diffused 
among  men,  greater  discontent  has  been  observable, 
and  men  say  the  conflict  between  labor  and  capital  is 
intensifying,  when  the  real  truth  is,  that  by  the 
increase  of  intelligence  this  premium  will  be  elimi 
nated  altogether,  because  labor  can  and  will  become 
its  own  employer  through  cooperative  association. 

"  In  addition  to  the  many  advantages  which  coop 
eration  confers  upon  the  material  prosperity  of  the 
laboring  classes,  there  are  great  and  significant  bene 
fits  to  ensue  to  the  character  of  men.  The  employe 
is  regarded  by  the  employer  merely  in  the  light  of  his 
value  as  an  operative.  His  productive  capacity  alone 
is  taken  into  account.  His  character  for  honesty, 
truthfulness,  good  moral  habits,  are  largely  disre 
garded,  unless  they  interfere  with  the  extent  and 
quality  of  his  services.  But  when  men  are  about  to 
enter  partnership  in  the  way  of  cooperation  the  whole 
range  of  character  comes  under  careful  scrutiny. 
Each  individual  member  of  a  cooperative  society, 
being  the  employer  of  his  own  labor,  works  with  that 
interest  which  is  inseparable  from  the  new  position 
he  enjoys.  Each  has  an  interest  in  the  other;  each 
is  interested  in  the  other's  health,  in  his  sobriety,  in 
his  intelligence,  in  his  general  competency,  and  each 


LELAND  STANFORD.  297 

is  a  guard  upon  the  other's  conduct.  There  would  be 
no  idling  in  a  cooperative  workshop.  Each  workman 
being  an  employer  has  a  spur  to  his  own  industry, 
and  also  has  a  pecuniary  reason  for  being  watchful  of 
the  industry  of  his  fellow-workmen.  The  character 
of  men  invariably  arises  with  the  assumption  of  higher 
responsibilities,  and  with  the  accession  of  men  to  the 
higher  plane  of  becoming  their  own  employers  there 
is  to  be  a  corresponding  accession  of  more  ambitious 
and  interested  activity  and  high  character.  The  bill 
I  have  introduced  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States, 
if  it  should  become  a  law,  in  addition  to  the  opportu 
nity  it  would  afford  for  the  formation  of  cooperative 
societies,  would  do  much  to  attract  attention  to  the 
value  of  the  cooperative  principle  upon  which  our 
industrial  system  should  be  founded.  It  will  be  a 
governmental  attestation  of  the  value  of  the  coopera 
tive  principle,  which  alone  can  eliminate  what  has 
been  called  the  conflict  been  capital  and  labor. 

•'  There  are  still  higher  considerations  connecting 
themselves  with  this  great  subject.  Take,  for  instance, 
the  influence  of  cooperation  upon  the  rate  of  wages 
to  the  employed  class.  In  a  cooperative  association 
conducting  a  business  and  dividing  the  entire  pro 
ceeds  of  the  business  the  dividends  so  created  would 
exceed  the  ordinary  rate  of  wages.  The  best  mechan 
ics  and  the  best  laborers  would,  therefore,  seek  to 
acquire  a  position  in  a  cooperative  association.  The 
reward  of  labor  being  greater  by  cooperation,  the 
employer  would  have  to  offer  additional  inducement 
to  labor  to  remain  in  its  employ,  because  the  superior 
attractiveness  of  the  cooperative  plan  would  incite 
them  to  form  societies  of  this  character  and  employ 
their  own  labor.  It  would,  therefore,  have  a  direct 
tendency  to  raise  the  rate  of  wages  for  all  labor,  or, 
in  other  words,  to  narrow  the  margin  between  the 
amount  paid  for  labor  and  its  gross  product.  Its 
effects  expand  in  various  directions  by  contemplation. 
There  would  be  a  greater  consumption  of  labor, 


298  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

because  of  the  greater  prosperity  of  men  in  coopera 
tive  relation.  All  men  labor  to  gratify  their  wants. 
Civilization  means  simply  multiplicity  of  wants,  and 
the  wants  of  men  are  limited  only  by  their  intellectual 
capacity  to  perceive  them.  As  the  mind  grows  and 
expands  it  perceives  new  and  varied  wants.  You 
cannot  have  failed  to  notice  that  in  proportion  as  men 
are  able  to  gratify  the  higher  tastes  their  dwellings 
begin  to  show  the  improvement  in  their  condition. 
They  have  better  carpets,  musical  instruments,  pic 
tures  and  books  ;  comforts  and  even  elegancies  appear 
with  the  ability  of  men  to  purchase  them.  All  these 
things  are  the  result  of  labor.  If  there  are  more 
men  able  to  own  and  enjoy  them  there  is  a  greater 
demand  for  labor  in  their  production.  So  the  demand 
for  labor  increases  continually  with  the  growth  of 
civilized  conceptions. 

"  Every  improvement  in  the  method  of  production 
brings  some  article  of  comfort  or  elegance  within  the 
reach  of  a  large  number  of  people  and  makes  a 
greater  demand  for  labor  in  its  production,  and  at  this 
point  the  interdependence  of  all  men  comes  into  view. 
A  man  may  own  a  piece  of  land,  but  he  is  dependent 
upon  the  labor  of  others  for  the  instruments  with 
which  to  till  it.  The  owner  of  a  piece  of  land  who 
has  nothing  but  his  hands  with  which  to  cultivate  the 

o 

soil  is  powerless  to  make  it  productive.  Take  the 
most  primitive  agricultural  implement — a  spade. 
When  his  hands  are  supplemented,  and  aided  by 
a  spade,  he  may  stir  the  ground  and  plant  something. 
This  he  could  not  do  were  his  hands  not  supplemented 
with  tools,  and  these  tools,  you  will  observe,  are  the 
product  of  the  labor  of  others.  A  spade  is  a  very 
simple  garden  implement,  but  its  history  would  be 
the  history  of  civilization — a  history  of  all  the  prog 
ress  that  has  been  made  in  the  mechanical  arts.  From 
the  mining  of  the  ore  through  its  smelting,  its  con 
version  into  steel,  its  manufacture  into  the  form  of  an 
agricultural  implement,  there  are  many  processes,  and 


LELAND  STANFORD.  299 

these  processes  represent  the  advancement  of  thought 
and  skill  in  the  mechanical  world.  But  the  man  I 
have  supposed  to  own  the  land  is  powerless  without 
the  assistance  of  others.  He  cannot  make  a  move 
ment  in  the  way  of  tilling  his  land  without  setting: 

i  (•  • 

some  one  to  work  to  manufacture  implements  with 

which  that  tillage  shall  be  done. 

"  In  every  branch  of  human  thought,  every  other 
department  of  activity  and  industry  is  called  into 
requisition.  The  musician  who  composes  music  must 
express  it  upon  a  musical  instrument — a  piano  or 
violin — and  the  instrument  is  the  result  of  mechanical 
skill.  As  that  skill  advances,  new  expressions  become 
possible,  and  hence  the  science  of  music  is  constantly 
promoted  by  reason  of  the  improvement  in  the 
mechanical  construction  of  musical  instruments.  The 
astronomer  must  use  mathematical  instruments.  The 
observatory  of  the  astronomer  is  called  into  requisi 
tion,  and  with  it  all  the  mechanical  arts  made  use  of 
in  its  construction,  from  the  lense  of  the  telescope  to 
the  stone  in  the  foundation  of  the  building.  Taken 
as  a  whole,  society  is  a  grand  cooperative  association. 
As  a  whole  it  is  a  unit,  and  this  unit  is  divided  into 
departments  or  branches  of  mechanical  activity  and 
scientific  inquiry,  and  these  are  mutually  dependent 
upon  each  other.  The  demand  for  the  product  of 
labor  is  unlimited.  There  can  be  no  such  thing  as 
over-production,  so  long  as  there  remains  a  single 
human  being  with  wants  to  supply. 

"  I  say  the  demand  for  labor  is  unlimited,  because 
the  capacity  of  the  human  mind  to  conceive  new 
wants  is  unlimited.  With  every  advancement  in 
civilization  there  is  a  corresponding  enlargement  of 
the  range  of  wants.  Every  year  introduces  something 
into  the  wants  of  man  which  requires  activity  in  a 
new  field  of  labor  to  supply.  The  earth,  the  source 
from  which  all  wants  are  supplied,  is  an  inexhaustible 
mine.  We  have,  then,  the  unlimited  advancement 
and  extension  and  multiplicity  of  human  want,  and 


300  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

we  have  an  unlimited  source  with  which  those  wants 
may  be  supplied.  The  condition  of  labor  rises  with 
the  advancement  of  civilization,  because  with  multi 
plicity  of  wants  the  demand  for  labor  increases,  and 
wants  advance  in  proportion  as  they  may  be  supplied. 
The  human  mind  ceases  to  demand  things  that  are 
impossible  of  gratification.  But  with  the  possibility 
of  supplying  wants  they  come  into  existence,  and 
with  them  new  fields  of  activity  for  human  labor  are 
opened.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  labor-aiding 
machinery  is  a  continued  blessing  to  labor. 

"  In  fact,  the  difference  between  the  civilized  and 
uncivilized  man  is  a  difference  of  the  extent  to  which 
the  hand  of  man  has  been  supplemented  by  tools  and 
implements.  The  Indian  on  the  plains  of  Nevada, 
with  his  unaided  hand,  presents  no  evidence  of  civil 
ized  capacity  or  productive  power.  With  him  the 
primitive  problem  of  sustaining  existence  has  not  been 
solved.  His  hand  is  not  supplemented  by  tools  and 
implements,  and  his  unaided  hand  finds  constant 
employment  in  obtaining  the  mere  necessities  of 
physical  existence.  It  is  therefore  impossible  for  him 
to  enter  any  higher  realm.  The  use  of  tools  and 
implements,  which  eventually  expand  and  broaden 
and  multiply  into  the  most  complex  labor-aiding 
machinery,  is  the  point  of  departure  between  barbarism 
and  civilization.  As  soon  as  uncivilized  man  perceives 
the  value  of  an  axe  with  which  to  cut  down  the  trees 
of  the  forests,  he  finds  eventually  the  value  of  a  saw. 
He  learns  to  propel  this  saw  with  steam  or  water 
power,  and  thus  his  hand  is  aided.  He  can  now  do 
something  more  than  sustain  mere  physical  existence. 
Some  of  the  intellectual  wants  of  his  nature  may  now 
be  supplied,  and  with  the  intellectual  activity  neces 
sary  to  the  manufacture  of  an  axe  or  a  saw  or  a  spade 
he  has  acquired  more  intellectual  force  and  power, 
and  this  is  inseparable  from  the  acquirement  of 
diversified  wants.  His  capacity  to  perceive  new 
wants  has  been  enlarged,  and  as  soon  as  want  is  felt 


LELAND  STANFORD.  301 

effort  will  be  made  to  supply  it.  The  uncivilized 
man,  like  the  Indian  of  the  plains,  has  never  felt 
higher  wants.  When  his  physical  wants  are  grati 
fied,  he  falls  into  a  condition  of  sloth  and  indolence, 
if  indeed  he  has  time  for  indolence,  for  in  a  barbarous 
condition,  with  the  hands  unaided  by  implements,  it 
requires  constant  effort,  diligence,  and  industry  to 
obtain  the  means  of  supporting  mere  physical  exist 
ence.  It  therefore  follows  that  every  discovery  in 
economic  science  which  makes  the  production  of 
things  useful  to  man  cheaper,  and  every  new  want 
that  is  felt  by  man  in  his  progress  toward  higher 
civilization,  enlarges  the  field  of  labor. 

"  Cooperation  will  add  new  energy  to  civilized  life, 
because  it  will  increase  the  prosperity  of  laboring 
men,  and  enlarge  in  every  respect  the  scope  of  their 
lives.  The  capacity  to  perceive  a  diversity  of  wants, 
the  power  of  the  mind  to  feel  and  acquire  new  wants, 
being  unlimited,  and  the  things  necessary  to  their 
gratification  being  produced  alone  by  labor,  the  demand 
for  labor  is  limitless,  and  that  demand  will  increase 
in  the  proportion  as  men  have  capacity  to  perceive 
greater  diversity  of  want.  The  untaught  barbarian, 
notwithstanding  the  effort  required  of  him  to  main 
tain  physical  existence,  consumes  but  little  labor. 
Civilized  man  is  a  vast  consumer  of  labor.  Every 
article  of  furniture  in  his  house,  the  house  itself,  the 
garden,  the  grounds,  the  books,  the  papers,  and  the 
musical  instruments,  are  all  the  result  of  labor,  and 
each  civilized  man  is  therefore  consuming  in  his  life 
time  the  result  of  a  labor  equal  to  the  productive 
capacity  of  many  hundreds  of  men  whose  hands  are 
unaided  by  labor-aiding  machinery. 

"  The  introduction  of  the  cooperative  principle  into 
the  industrial  systems  of  our  country  means  a  general 
advance  in  the  conditions  of  all  classes.  It  means 
the  awakening  in  the  minds  of  a  greater  number  of 
people  of  the  complex  wants  of  civilization,  and  will 
bring  within  the  reach  of  all  increased  gratification. 


302  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

"  The  conclusion  that  the  multiplicity  of  civilized 
wants  places  a  strain  upon  certain  classes  among  civ 
ilized  men  who  have  not  sufficient  intellectual  capac 
ity  to  keep  pace  with  the  civilization  which  surrounds 
them,  and  that  they  are  therefore  relegated  to  a  con 
dition  of  poverty  which  gives  great  emphasis  to  the 
disparity  of  condition  between  the  rich  and  the  poor, 
that,  in  short,  civilization  presents  the  strong  lights 
and  shadows  of  great  luxury  and  abject  poverty, 
grows  out  of  our  lack  of  observation  of  the  same 
phenomena  among  uncivilized  men.  In  a  state  of 
barbarism  there  is  an  utter  absence  of  all  unselfish 
helpfulness.  The  strong  prey  upon  the  weak.  There 
is  a  greater  disparity  of  condition  between  the  hunter 
who  is  able  to  pursue  the  chase,  and  the  indigent, 
aged  arid  infirm,  than  between  the  rich  and  the  poor 
in  civilized  life,  and  for  reasons  which  have  already 
been  alluded  to ;  that  is,  we  have  found  that  the 
point  of  departure,  the  very  line  of  separation  which 
leaves  barbarism  on  one  side  and  introduces  civiliza 
tion  on  the  other,  is  at  that  point  where  the  hand  of 
man  is  supplemented  by  labor-aiding  machinery,  tools, 
and  implements. 

"  We  have  found  that  with  the  introduction  of 
labor-aiding  machinery  life  is  enlarged,  its  possibilities 
widened  and  expanded.  The  primitive  problem  of 
maintaining  physical  existence  being  solved,  the  intel 
lectual  and  spiritual  wants  of  man  may  be  ministered 
unto.  When  man,  through  the  assistance  of  labor- 
aiding  machinery,  may  be  able  to  produce  in  his  life 
time  an  amount  sufficient  to  maintain  the  physical 
existence  of  a  hundred  men,  then  he  has  a  margin 
of  capacity  to  supply  his  intellectual,  aesthetic,  and 
spiritual  wants  in  excess  of  the  demand  made  upon 
him  to  maintain  the  physical  existence  of  ninety-nine 
men.  Out  of  this  surplus  he  is  at  liberty  to  conceive 
new  wants,  because  the  means  to  gratify  them  are 
within  his  reach.  Now,  among  the  natural  wants  of 
man  is  the  desire  to  see  those  around  him  happy.  In 


LELAND  STANFORD.  303 

a  state  of  barbarism  the  demand  made  upon  the  energy 
of  one  whose  hand  is  not  supplemented  by  imple 
ments  is  such  as  to  confine  him  to  the  solution  of  the 
problem  of  his  own  existence.  He  has  no  surplus 
capacity  which  he  may  generously  devote  to  the 
assistance  of  others.  His  own  existence  is  at  all 
times  precarious.  He  does  not  add  to  the  productive 
capacity  of  the  soil  by  tillage.  He  subsists,  for 
example,  upon  roots  and  berries  which  are  allowed  to 
grow,  and  his  method  of  treating  this  natural  food  is 
such  as  to  produce  its  production  year  by  year.  For 
meat  he  subsists  upon  the  animals  of  the  forest, 
chiefly  animals  of  the  cervine  species,  and  it  is  a  fact 
of  universal  observation  that  the  barbarian  slays  the 
game  at  such  time  as  to  reduce  their  numbers. 

O 

"  Barbarism,  then,  adopts  and  pursues  methods  of 
subsistence  which  constantly  diminish  the  capacity  of 
the  earth  to  sustain  human  life.  Civilized  methods 
constantly  increase  the  capacity  of  the  earth  to  pro 
duce  things  necessary  to  man.  Improved  methods  of 
cultivation  may  render  a  single  acre  capable  of  pro 
ducing  an  amount  of  human  food  equal  to  that  pro 
duced  by  twenty  acres  in  the  past.  The  Malthusian 
theory  of  population,  with  which  every  student  of 
political  economy  is  familiar,  predicted  a  limitation 
upon  the  numbers  of  the  race  by  assuming  a  ratio  of 
increase  between  the  food  product  and  the  increase  of 
population.  It  contended  that  population  increased 
in  a  geometrical  ratio,  while  the  food  product  increased 
only  in  an  arithmetical  ratio,  and  that  therefore  the 
capacity  of  the  earth  to  produce  food  would  not  keep 
pace  with  the  increase  of  population.  This  theory  of 
population  advanced  by  Malthus  failed  because  he 
did  not  make  allowance  for  the  great  progress  which 
has  been  made  in  inventions,  nor  for  the  improved 
methods  of  cultivation  which  civilization  has  intro 
duced. 

"  The  real  truth  is  that  the  capacity  of  the  people 
of  the  earth  to  produce  food  is  much  greater  in  pro- 


304  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

portion  to  their  numbers  than  during  the  time  of 
Malthus.  Take  an  example  which  is  very  near  at 
home.  The  agricultural  population  of  California 
does  not  exceed  one  hundred  thousand  people.  There 
are  not  in  excess  of  20,000  adults  engaged  in  agri 
cultural  pursuits  in  California,  and  yet  these  20,000 
men  produce  an  annual  export  surplus  equal  to  from 
one  million  to  twelve  and  thirteen  hundred  thousand 
tons  per  annum.  One  million  tons  of  wheat  per 
annum  will  furnish  breadstuffs  for  ten  millions  of 
people.  Here,  then,  in  California  twenty  thousand 
people,  by  the  assistance  of  labor-aiding  machinery, 
are  producing  in  a  single  year  bread  sufficient  to  feed 
ten  millions  of  people  a  whole  year.  Right  under 
our  own  observation,  then,  20,000  men  produce  in  a 
single  year  bread  enough  to  feed  five  hundred  times 
their  own  number.  In  a  state  of  barbarism,  or  even 
in  the  more  primitive  stages  of  civilization,  this  result 
would  have  been  impossible.  In  fact,  in  a  state  of 
barbarism  the  individual  with  his  bare  hands,  and 
possibly  a  few  rude  '  implements  of  agriculture  or 
hunting  equipments,  is  barely  able  to  support  himself 
and  minister  to  his  own  physical  wants.  Conditions 
in  a  state  of  barbarism  may  appear  to  be  more  nearly 
equalized  to  the  superficial  observation,  because  all 
are  on  the  dead  level  of  abject  poverty,  below  the 
line  of  which  there  is  submergence  or  actual  starva 
tion. 

"  I  have  already  said  that  the  wants  of  men  are 
limited  only  by  their  intellectual  capacity  to  perceive 
them.  Let  me  add  to  that  a  most  obvious  fact : 
with  the  capacity  to  perceive  wants,  the  power  to 
find  the  means  of  their  gratification  is  also  very 
greatly  increased.  In  low  conditions  of  civilization 
the  wants  are  few  and  the  productive  capacity  corre 
spondingly  low.  In  a  high  civilization  wants  are 
multiplied  and  become  more  complex,  and  the  capac 
ity  of  man  to  supply  them  is  augmented  even  in  a 
much  greater  ratio  than  the  capacity  to  perceive 


LELAND  STANFORD.  305 

them.  In  stages  of  civilized  development  where  the 
wants  are  but  few  and  the  habits  of  life  very  simple, 
the  use  of  labor-aiding  machinery  is  also  very  limited  ; 
but  with  the  expansion  of  the  mind  under  civilizing 
influence  the  inventive  genius  rises,  and  while  new 
wants  have  birth  in  the  mind,  still  greater  capacities 
for  producing  the  things  required  to  gratify  these 
wants  are  also  engendered. 

"  When  you  meet  with  a  man  who  is  poorly  clad, 
poorly  fed,  living  in  a  state  of  poverty,  you  are 
always  beset  with  the  painful  reflection  that  the 
unused  portions  of  the  earth  would  offer  a  broad 
field  for  the  application  of  that  man's  productive 
capacity,  which  would  yield  him  and  his  family  an 
abundance.  When  you  see  a  man  without  employ 
ment  and  reflect  that  but  a  small  area  of  the  earth, 
from  which  all  the  wants  of  man  are  supplied,  is 
under  cultivation,  and  therefore  but  a  very  small  pro 
portion  of  the  earth  yielding  its  abundance  to  sup 
ply  the  wants  of  man,  the  contemplation  is  necessarily 
saddening.  The  fault  is  with  the  organization  of  our 
industrial  systems.  The  individual  so  circumstanced 
belongs  to  the  class  of  people  who  wait  the  action  of 
an  employer,  instead  of  originating  employment  for 
themselves.  Now,  the  employer  class  originates 
employments  only  for  the  gratification  of  its  own 
wants.  The  hirer  of  labor  uses  other  men  in  the 
employed  relation  only  to  the  extent  that  his  own 
wants  demand. 

'Those  therefore,  who,  having  productive  capacity, 
remain  in  poverty  belong  to  the  class  who  constitute 
the  surplus  over  and  above  the  numbers  required  to 
satisfy,  by  the  product  of  their  labor,  the  wants  of 
the  employer  class.  The  numbers  belonging  to  this 
surplus  class  would  be  constantly  diminished,  and 
would  eventually  disappear,  under  the  operation  of 
the  cooperative  principle.  In  the  first  place,  coopera 
tion  would  so  improve  the  condition  of  the  working- 
men  engaged  in  it  that  their  own  wants  would  be  mul- 

C.  B.— II.     20 


306  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

tiplied,  and  a  greater  demand  for  labor  would  ensue  ; 
and,  in  the  second  place,  too  much  importance  cannot 
be  attached  to  the  fact  that  no  man  can  do  anything 
unless  he  has  first  received  a  preparatory  education. 
This  is  just  as  indispensable  in  an  employer  of  labor 
as  it  is  in  any  other  department  of  human  activity. 
The  number  of  employers  of  men  will  necessarily  be 
limited  to  the  number  who  have  the  capacity  to  accom 
plish  profitable  results  through  others.  Cooperation 
would  be  a  preparatory  school,  qualifying  men  not 
only  to  direct  their  own  energies  but  to  direct  the 
labor  and  skill  of  others. 

"Let  us  illustrate  this  plainly  and  simply.  Sup 
pose  that,  to-day,  for  every  one  hundred  men  engaged 
in  manual  labor  there  is  but  one  employer,  who  is 
originating  employment  for  the  other  ninety-nine. 
This  one  individual,  it  may  safely  be  presumed,  is  the 
only  one  among  the  one  hundred  who  is  qualified  to 
successfully  direct  to  a  profitable  issue  the  productive 
capacity,  the  skill  and  the  industry  of  the  others. 
Now,  suppose  that  twenty  out  of  these  one  hundred 
form  a  cooperative  association,  and  thereby  become 
the  employers  of  their  own  labor.  Each  begins  by 
first  directing  his  own.  Having  mastered  this  prob 
lem,  each  is  now  prepared  to  take  the  next  step,  and 
to  become  the  employer  of  others.  Here,  then,  a 
cooperative  asssociation  becomes  a  school  in  which 
employers  are  educated,  and  eventually,  instead  of 
one  man  in  one  hundred  having  the  requisite  capac 
ity  to  direct  the  capacity  of  others,  you  have  twenty- 
one,  because  the  cooperative  association  has  qualified 
twenty  new  men  for  the  high  and  beneficial  office  of 
originating  employments  and  directing  successfully 
the  productive  energy  of  their  fellow-men.  With  the 
increase  in  the  number  of  those  qualified  to  profitably 
direct  the  employments  of  their  fellows,  there  is  to 
be  a  corresponding  increase  of  the  numbers  demanded 
by  the  proprietor  or  the  employer  classes,  and  with 
the  increase  of  the  number  of  employers  there  is  nee- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  807 

essarily  a  corresponding  intensity  of  competition 
between  them  in  the  field  of  originating  employment. 
This  competitive  relation  alone  would  raise  the  reward 
of  labor.  Increase  the  number  of  those  who  have 
sufficient  capacity  to  originate  employment,  and 
derive  a  profit  out  of  directing  the  energies  and 
industries  of  their  fellow-men,  arid  you  necessarily 
increase  the  demand  for  employes.  Thus  coopera 
tion  will  increase  the  number  of  those  qualified  to 
originate  employments,  and  thus  import  into  the 
industrial  system  a  competition  among  the  employer 
class,  a  condition  highly  favorable  to  the  employed. 

"  If  I  have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  make  myself 
clearly  understood,  you  will  perceive  that  the  under 
lying  difference  between  an  industrial  system  conform 
ing  to  the  principles  of  cooperation,  and  one  dependent 
upon  perpetuating  the  relation  between  employer  and 
employe,  is  one  which  addresses  itself  directly  to  the 
distribution  of  wealth.  In  the  employed  relation  the 
number  of  men  an  individual  can  employ  is  limited 
only  to  his  skill  and  capacity  as  an  employer,  and  to 
the  amount  of  profitable  and  productive  employment 
he  is  able  to  offer.  There  are  individuals,  and  associ 
ations  of  a  small  number  of  individuals,  who  are 
employing  large  numbers  of  men.  I  have  no  statis 
tics  at  hand  which  would  enable  me  to  state  with 
accuracy  the  highest  number  employed  by  a  single 
individual,  but  I  assume  that  there  are  those  who 
employ  in  the  enterprises  projected  and  carried  for 
ward  by  themselves  as  high  as  20,000  men,  women, 
and  children. 

"  There  is  a  single  stationer  in  the  city  of  London 
who  employs  in  a  single  building  in  printing,  in 
engraving,  and  lithographing,  3,600  men,  women,  and 
children,  and  the  same  individual  employs  fully  as 
many  more  in  the  manufacture  of  paper,  envelopes, 
etc.  Here  is  a  joint  effort  having  two  distinct  depart 
ments.  On  the  part  of  the  employer,  the  problem 
to  be  solved  is  the  purchase  of  material,  economic 


308  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

direction  of  labor,  and  the  sale  of  manufactured 
goods.  Subsidiary  to  these,  it  is  the  office  of  the 
employer  to  discern  clearly  the  tastes  and  demands 
of  the  public,  and  not  only  to  supply  a  demand 
already  existing,  but  to  promote  or  create  additional 
demand.  The  manufacturer  who  has  no  regard  for 
merchandise  is  liable  to  operate  at  a  disadvantage. 
The  merchandising  side  of  the  effort,  therefore, 
becomes  an  incident  of  successful  manufacture.  More 
over  the  problem  of  success  requires  skill  in  the  pur 
chase  of  material,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  merely 
a  form  of  labor  not  performed  under  his  direction, 
and  also  the  promotion  of  skill,  industry,  and  diligence 
among  his  employes.  The  profitable  employment  of 
so  large  a  nnmber  of  men,  and  the  successful  solution 
of  all  the  problems  involved  in  a  very  high  office 
require  a  broad  range  of  faculty,  great  breadth  of 
view,  vast  executive  capacity,  systematic  economy  in 
the  various  departments,  and  tireless  commercial 
activity.  The  financial  success  of  such  a  man  in  the 
natural  order  of  things  will  be  greater  than  that  of 
any  single  individual  employed  by  him.  A  small 
profit  arising  upon  the  production  of  each  of  several 
thousand  persons  in  his  employ,  when  aggregated, 
will  make  in  the  course  of  a  business  career  a  large 
accumulation  in  his  hands,  and  proportionately  to  the 
number  employed  the  proprietor  class  will  necessarily 
accumulate  comparatively  large  fortunes  as  compared 
with  the  laboring  class.  Likewise  the  merchant  who 
is  distributor  of  the  product  of  labor,  and  stands 
between  the  producer  and  the  consumer,  devotes  his 
time,  his  thought  and  his  energy  to  the  accumulation 
of  profits  arising  out  of  production  due  to  the  labor  of 
others.  The  office  of  the  merchant  is  a  beneficent 
one.  He  performs  the  very  necessary  function  in  the 
commercial  organization  of  distributing  economically 
the  product  of  labor. 

"  The  division  of  human  labor  into  separate  depart 
ments  of  activity  has  in  all  times  been  recognized  as 


LELAND  STANFORD.  309 

highly  advantageous.  The  object  ol  all  production 
is  the  exchange  of  labor  in  these  separate  depart 
ments.  The  shoemaker  devotes  himself  to  the  man 
ufacture  of  shoes  and  boots,  and  thereby  acquires  great 
facility  in  the  trade,  but  his  own  necessities  are  varied, 
and  a  great  variety  of  trades  and  callings  are  brought 
into  requisition  to  supply  his  wants.  The  wares  he 
produces  must  be  exchanged  and  the  merchant  is  the 
medium  of  exchange.  If  the  office  he  performs  is 
conducted  strictly  in  accordance  with  true  mercantile 
principles,  it  is  an  indispensable  one  to  the  profitable 
exchange  of  the  varied  products  of  the  various 
departments  of  human  activity.  All  these  various 
offices,  to  be  successfully  and  advantageously  filled, 
require  special  preparatory  education  and  experience. 
Successful  merchandising  is  as  much  the  result  of 
trained  faculties,  broad  and  enlightened  intelligence 
and  skill,  as  the  making  of  a  good  watch.  Underl}  ing 
every  occupation  and  indispensable  to  success,  there 
are  certain  fundamental  principles  which  must  be 
clearly  comprehended  and  completely  mastered,  and 
the  possession  of  the  knowledge  of  these  principles 
and  of  their  application  to  business  is  in  each  instance 
a  profession  or  calling,  or,  as  we  may  say,  a  trained 
occupation.  The  producer  of  things  useful  to  men 
lives  in  what  we  may  term  for  the  purpose  of  illustra 
tion,  the  world  of  production.  The  employer  class 
and  the  distributing  class  may  be  said  to  live  in  a 
realm  of  accumulation.  Cooperative  efforts  associate 
these  two  great  departments,  and  combine  them  in 
one  and  the  same  body  of  men.  Cooperation  being  a 
method  by  which  an  individual  employs  his  own  labor, 
and  thereby  accumulates  the  premium  which  under 
the  opposite  system  of  industry  inures  to  the  benefit 
of  the  employer ;  it  becomes  at  the  same  time  a  more 
effective  method  of  accumulation. 

"  The  advantage  of  cooperation  being  established, 
the  question  naturally  arises  how  can  it  be  effected  ? 
The  bill  I  have  introduced  into  the  senate  of  the 


310  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

United  States  is  designed  to  be  the  practical  instru 
ment  of  cooperative  organization.  It  will  give  legal 
definition  and  status  to  cooperative  institutions.  It  is 
designed  to  define  clearly  the  relative  rights,  duties 
and  obligations  of  individuals  in  a  cooperative  rela 
tion,  and  also  the  legal  relations  of  such  institutions 
to  individuals,  corporations  and  other  cooperative 
institutions. 

"At  the  very  threshold  of  cooperative  effort  we 
find  that  the  cooperative  association  must  perform  for 
itself  the  offices  that  have  been  performed  by  the 
employer,  by  the  purchaser  of  materials,  by  the 
director  of  labor,  and  by  the  merchant.  Cooperation 
is  not  itself  designed  to  eliminate,  and  could  not  elim 
inate  if  it  was  so  designed,  these  offices  from  human 
activity.  What  is  designed  is  that  labor  shall  perform 
these  functions  for  itself;  unless  they  are  performed 
with  the  same  executive  qualifications  necessary  to 
success  under  the  opposite  system  they  will  result  in 
failure.  The  first  thing  necessary,  then,  is  a  plain 
recogtiition  on  the  part  of  those  intending  to  unite 
their  labor  into  cooperative  relation  of  the  necessity 
for  an  intelligent  direction  equal  to  that  which  directs 
labor  in  the  employed  relation,  for  equal  executive 
ability  in  the  purchase  of  materials,  the  distribution 
of  labor,  the  direction  of  skill,  and  the  sale  of  wares. 
Success  in  all  these  departments  of  activity  is  as  much 
dependent  upon  capacity  and  preparatory  education 
as  mechanical  skill  or  professional  acquirement. 

"  The  first  step,  therefore,  will  be  for  those  engaged 
in  calling  or  craft  to  associate  a  chosen  number  who, 
availing  themselves  of  the  provisions  of  the  bill,  will 
form  themselves  into  a  legal  organization  wherein 
their  duties  and  obligations  are  defined  by  law.  The 
second  step  is  to  select  from  their  number  executive 
officers  who,  by  reason  of  their  experience  and  special 
fitness,  are  qualified  to  perform  the  higher  offices  of 
directing  to  an  intelligent  issue  the  cooperative  effort. 
This  enforces  a  clear  recognition  of  several  things, 


LELAND  STANFORD.  311 

chief  among  which  is  that  productive  labor,  however 
intelligent  or  skilful  in  the  realm  of  its  special  pro 
duction,  requires  intelligent  direction  to  reach  success 
ful  results.  Due  regard  must  be  had  for  the  special 
department  of  labor  in  which  the  cooperation  is 
undertaken.  Thought  must  be  bestowed  upon  the 
quality  and  character  of  the  wares  and  merchandise 
produced.  Judgment  was  to  be  exercised  in  the 
apportionment  of  labor  to  those  most  skilled  in  its 
separate  branches.  Executive  ability  must  be  employed 
in  the  financial  department  of  such  an  undertaking. 
Thus  executive  ability,  financiering  skill,  clerical 
accomplishment,  and,  in  short,  in  the  exercise  of  all  the 
varied  qualifications  which  combined  guarantee  to  the 
employed  relation  all  the  success  it  has  ever  achieved, 
are  necessary  to  a  cooperative  institution. 

"  I  think  I  have  observed  a  reluctance  on  the  part 
of  men  whose  lives  have  been  spent  in  productive 
labor 'to  recognize  clearly  and  fully  the  difference  of 
capacity  among  men.  Cooperation  will  be  a  failure 
without  such  recognition.  Cooperation  is  not  designed 
to  be  the  haven  of  incompetency,  but  to  combine  the 
full  force  of  united  strength,  working  as  a  unit  for  a 
common  benefit. 

"  When  a  method  of  industrial  organization  is 
sought,  the  underlying  principle  of  which  is  to  give  to 
labor  the  full  reward  of  its  toil,  any  attempt  to  merge 
the  capacities  of  those  cooperating,  whereby  a  gen 
eral  average  will  be  struck  between  competency  and 
incompetency,  diligence  and  sloth,  intelligence  and 
ignorance,  will  be  at  once  in  contravention  of  the 
great  underlying  principles  of  cooperation.  Further 
than  this,  it  is  not  the  design  to  divorce  labor  from 
its  intelligent  direction,  but  rather  to  associate  the 
intelligence,  as  well  as  the  productive  skill  and  capac 
ity,  of  working  men  into  cooperative  relation. 

"  Under  the  provisions  of  the  bill  it  will  be  possible 
for  those  proposing  to  form  a  cooperative  society  to  so 
formulate  their  articles  of  association  that  the  unwor- 


312  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

thy,  should  any  such  become  members,  can  be  divested 
of  their  membership.  This  can  be  accomplished  by 
providing  the  means  by  which  an  appraisement  of  the 
value  of  an  interest  may  be  had ;  and  if  the  associa 
tion  shall  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  find  among  their 
number  one  addicted  to  drunkenness,  immoral  prac 
tices,  to  habits  of  indolence  or  insubordination,  or 
possessed  of  a  violent  and  intractable  temper,  such 
member's  interest  in  the  association  may,  upon  demand 
of  two-thirds  of  the  membership,  be  appraised,  and, 
upon  payment  to  him  of  the  value  of  his  interest,  the 
member  himself  can  be  expelled,  thus  rooting  out  all 
those  whose  habits  or  disposition  would  make  their 
membership  a  continued  menace  to  the  success  of  the 
society.  A  cooperative  association  may  also  provide 
that  each  member  shall  receive  wages  or  salary,  and 
while  being  invested  with  membership  will,  during  the 
time  he  is  employed,  act  in  the  capacity  of  working- 
man,  under  the  direction  of  the  president  or  general 
director.  In  this  employed  relation  the  officer  over 
him  should  not  be  denied  that  degree  of  author 
ity  which  will  enable  him  to  enforce  all  the  discipline 
of  industry,  all  the  requirements  of  good  workman 
ship,  skill,  and  diligence  which  will  be  found  to  be 
indispensable  to  success. 

"  All  these  contingencies  may  be  provided  for  in  the 
articles  of  association,  which  each  member  should  be 
required  to  sign,  and  which  would  constitute  a  code  of 
rules  and  regulations,  forming  the  basis  of  the  agree 
ment  between  the  members.  In  this  sense  a  coopera 
tive  society  would  be  the  employer  of  its  own 
members.  It  would  pay  wages ;  and  if  the  aggregate 
product  of  the  labor  performed  yielded  a  profit  in 
excess  of  the  wages  paid,  then  out  of  such  profit  a 
dividend  to  the  members  should  be  declared,  and  the 
dividend  should  be  paid  to  the  membership  in  propor 
tion  to  the  labor  performed  by  each.  If  in  the  prose 
cution  of  any  enterprise  the  association  should  find  it 
profitable  to  employ  persons  who  are  not  members  of 


LELAND  STANFORD.  313 

the  association,  such  employment  would  not  be  incon 
sistent  with  the  objects  of  the  association.  Such  asso 
ciation  should  in  all  respects  remain  voluntary,  and  a 
cooperative  society  should  be  at  liberty  to  admit  addi 
tional  membership,  if  profitable  employment  can  be 
found  for  an  additional  number  of  members,  or  to 
employ  in  emergencies  the  time  of  working-men,  the 
same  as  labor  is  employed  by  individuals  or  cor 
porations. 

"All  that  organization  implies  is  the  existence  of  a 
united  body  having  organs  with  separate  functions. 
Cooperative  organization  must  necessarily  conform  to 
this  law  of  being.  In  the  prosecution  of  any  enter 
prise  there  are  natural  departments  of  activity.  These 
varied  departments  call  for  capacity  in  the  perform 
ance  of  their  functions.  It  will  become  speedily  appa 
rent  that  a  single  head,  to  be  called  perhaps  the 
manager  or  director,  must  be  chosen,  and  this  head 
must  be  invested  with  that  degree  of  power  neces 
sary  to  the  accomplishment  of  defined  and  successful 
results.  The  highest  test  of  fitness  to  enter  into  the 
cooperative  relation  will  be  the  intelligent  perception 
of  the  necessity  of  obedience.  Every  undertaking  is 
amenable  to  certain  inexorable  laws,  which  may  be 
termed  the  laws  of  its  success.  Cooperative  organi 
zations  must  be  brought  under  subjection  to  these 
laws.  To  this  end  capacity  in  each  natural  subdi 
vision  or  department  of  activity  must  not  be  denied 
that  degree  of  authority  necessary  to  make  its  func 
tions  effective  for  the  good  of  the  whole.  Otherwise 
the  reward  of  industry  will  be  defeated  by  the  incom- 
petency  of  its  management  and  direction,  by  waste  in 
the  purchases  and  sales,  by  ignorance  of  the  relation 
of  demand  and  supply,  and  by  all  other  vicissitudes 
and  attributes  which  confer  upon  the  commercial  and 
manufacturing  activity  surrounding  us  the  changing 
kaleidescope  of  success  and  failure.  There  is  no  royal 
road  to  great  achievements  in  any  department  of 
human  thought  or  human  activity,  Cooperation  will 


314  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 


not,  therefore,  abolish  the  law  of  commercial  success 
and  failure.  However  great  the  advantages  to  labor 
of  the  cooperative  principles,  cooperation  itself  will 
be  amenable  to  the  great  law  that  the  success  of  all 
effort  is  ultimately  dependent  upon  its  intelligent 
direction. 

11  Intelligent  concurrence  in  the  proper  direction  of 
effort  is  equal  in  dignity  to  the  intelligence  which 
directs.  By  far  too  little  importance  has  been  attached 
to  this  great  truth.  However  high  the  intelligence 
which  directs,  its  measure  of  success  is  forever  depend 
ent  upon  the  concurrence  of  the  association.  Coop 
erative  organization  will,  therefore,  find  itself  amenable 
to  these  laws  of  intelligent  direction  and  intelligent 
concurrence.  They  will  find  it  necessary  to  define 
the  functions  of  office,  and  to  permit  the  discharge  of 
these  functions  to  thoee  best  qualified  to  perform 
them.  Thus  organized,  cooperative  association  is 
equipped  with  the  full  round  of  competency.  In  such 
relation  the  members  enter  a  new  and  higher  realm 
of  activity.  It  is  by  their  concurrence  that  they  are 
directed,  and  thus  concurrence  becomes  itself  the 
directing  force.  There  are  large  numbers  of  men 
whose  services  may  be  secured,  already  well  qualified 
to  fill  the  necessary  offices  of  such  an  organization, 
and  thus  entering  upon  an  employed  relation  founded 
in  concurrence,  each  associate  becomes  in  a  sense  the 
director  of  his  own  labor,  and  each  member  begins  at 
the  very  outset  to  acquire  competency  in  a  higher 
and  broader  realm.  Each  cooperative  institution  will, 
therefore,  become  a  school  of  business  in  which  each 
member  will  acquire  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  trade 
and  commerce  pertaining  to  his  business,  and  thus  to 
their  mechanical  skill  each  will  be  adding  a  stock  of 
that  knowledge  so  necessary  to  success  in  the  realm 
of  accumulation. 

"  The  value  of  all  this  to  the  character  of  citizen 
ship  should  be  apparent  without  illustration.  To 
comprehend  it  in  all  its  breadth,  however,  let  us 


LELAND  STANFORD.  315 

assume  that  in  all  time  all  labor  had  been  thus  self- 
directing.  If  instead  of  the  proposition  before  us  to 
change  the  industrial  system  from  the  employed  rela 
tion  and  place  it  under  self-direction,  the  cooperative 
form  of  industrial  organization  had  existed  from  all 
time,  and  we  were  now,  for  the  first  time,  proposing 
to  reorganize  the  employment  of  labor  and  place  it 
under  non-concurrent  direction,  I  apprehend  the 
proposer  of  such  a  change  would  be  regarded  in  the 
light  of  an  enslaver  of  his  race.  He  would  be  amen 
able  to  the  charge  that  his  effort  was  in  the  direction 
of  reducing  the  laboring  men  to  an  automaton,  and 
that  vague  apprehension  with  which  untried  experi 
ments  are  beset  would  leave  but  small  distinction  in 
the  minds  of  workinginen  between  the  submission  of 
all  labor  to  the  uncontrolled  direction  of  an  emplo}'er 
and  actual  slavery.  We  may  safely  assume  that 
such  a  change  would  be  impossible — that  men  are  not 
likely  to  voluntarily  surrender  the  independence  of 
character  which  cooperation  would  establish  for  any 
lower  degree  of  servitude.  I  would  not,  by  this 
illustration,  be  understood  as  claiming  that  any  useful 
employment  is  lacking  in  dignity.  All  labor  is  hon 
orable,  all  industry  noble,  and  under  the  operation  of 
our  free  institutions  and  our  free  educational  systems, 
the  masses  of  workingmen  have  become  constantly 
more  intelligent  and  more  worthy.  In  fact,  coopera 
tion  is  merely  an  extension  to  the  industrial  life  of 
our  people — of  our  great  political  system  of  self-gov 
ern  ment.  That  government  itself  is  founded  upon 
the  great  doctrine  of  the  consent  of  the  governed,  and 
has  its  corner-stone  in  the  memorable  principle  that 
men  are  endowed  with  inalienable  rights.  This  great 
principle  has  a  clearly  defined  place  in  cooperative 
organization.  The  right  of  each  individual  in  any 
relation  to  secure  to  himself  the  full  benefits  of  his 
intelligence,  his  capacity,  his  industry  and  skill  are 
among  the  inalienable  inheritances  of  humanity. 
"  To  resume,  however,  the  practical  phases  of  this 


316  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

question,  I  can  see  no  reason  why  cooperation  may 
not  be  extended  into  various  branches.  As  a  people 
we  are  engaged  in  a  varied  agriculture,  as  well  as  in 
a  variety  of  manufactures  and  a  varied  commerce. 
A  cooperative  association  designed  to  furnish  labor 
for  farming  operations  is  clearly  within  the  realm  of 
practical  achievement.  A  varied  agriculture  demands 
labor  at  different  seasons  of  the  year.  An  association 
of  industrious,  intelligent,  and  sober  agricultural 

o 

laborers,  comprising  men  qualified  to  perform  intelli 
gently  the  varied  requirements  of  agriculture  and 
horticulture,  would  be  of  inestimable  benefit  in  our 
labor  system.  They  could  organize  for  the  purpose 
of  furnishing  labor  as  the  vicissitudes  of  the  season 
may  require.  There  are  various  seasons  for  the 
various  products  ;  therefore  cooperation  would  insure 
to  the  farm  laborer  annual  employment  arising  out  of 
the  variety  of  the  production  of  a  neighborhood. 
There  is  the  season  of  plowing,  of  planting,  of  prun 
ing,  of  harvesting,  of  the  vintage ;  and  these  seasons 
are  not  coincident.  An  organized  body  of  laborers, 
responsible  as  an  organization  for  the  faithful  per 
formance  of  the  duties  of  its  members,  would  find  a 
large  premium  inuring  to  them,  growing  out  of  the 
facilities  thus  afforded  to  employ  from  a  single  labor 
exchange  a  sufficient  number  of  workmen  for  the 
accomplishment  of  these  varied  operations  in  their 
appropriate  seasons.  Finally  it  will  be  found  that  in 
cooperation,  as  in  every  other  department  of  human 
activity,  success  will  depend  upon  the  adjustment  of 
men  to  their  various  duties  according  to  their  highest 
fitness.  Let  the  man  best  fitted  to  direct  be  chosen 
for  that  office.  Then  let  intelligent  concurrence  sup 
plement  his  effort,  and  honesty  and  intelligence  will 
accomplish  all  the  rest." 

Thus  in  language  terse,  vigorous,  and  condensed,  as 
is  all  his  language,  whether  written  or  spoken,  did 
the  senator  express  to  the  Tribune  representative  his 
views  on  these  long-vexed  problems  in  political  econ- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  317 

omy.  We  cannot  call  to  mind  in  the  pages  of  Rich 
ards,  John  Stuart  Mill,  or  any  other  of  the  standard 
authorities,  a  more  striking  elucidation  of  the  princi 
ples  involved,  and  while  that  of  Mr  Stanford  contains 
much  that  is  new,  the  reader  will  observe  that  his 
reasoning  is  close,  solid,  and  cogent,  free  from  all  trace 
of  the  clap-trap  or  the  patriotism-on-stilts  which  too 
often  disfigure  the  disquisitions  of  the  nation's  law 
makers. 

As  an  example  of  originality  and  breadth  of  view  in 
financial  matters,  may  be  given  the  measure  of  Sena 
tor  Stanford,  presented  before  congress,  March  10, 
1890,  in  regard  to  the  loan  of  government  credit  for 
the  relief  of  farming  communities  throughout  the  land. 
The  full  text  of  the  resolution,  which  was  referred  to 
the  finance  committee,  is  as  follows  : 

"Whereas  there  is  a  stringency  in  money  and 
much  consequent  distress,  the  energies  of  the  country 
being  depressed,  and  large  portions  of  farming  com 
munities  being  heavily  burdened  and  struggling  for 
relief;  and  whereas  the  United  States  government 
is  alone  authorized  to  make  money  which  shall  be 
legal  tender,  whether  it  be  by  stamp  upon  paper,  sil 
ver,  or  gold ;  and  whereas  the  value  of  these  com 
modities  when  used  as  money  depends  entirely  upon 
the  stamp  of  the  government  making  it  legal  tender; 
and  whereas  it  has  been  found  that  money  advanced 
by  the  government  upon  its  own  bonds  to  holders 
thereof  has  furnished  the  best  and  most  acceptable 
currency  through  which  to-day  in  our  country  most 
of  the  exchanges  are  made  ;  and  whereas  the  present 
stringency  is  largely  due  to  the  retirement  of  govern 
ment  bonds  which  have  been  so  largely  the  basis  of 
our  circulating  medium  ;  and  whereas  it  is  of  great 
consequence  to  national  and  individual  interests  that 
credit  should  be  established  where  merited  as  far  as 
it  is  safe  and  practicable ;  and  whereas  the  govern 
ment  can  do  this  abundantly  without  risk  to  itself 


318  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA 

upon  much  of  the  property  of  the  country,  as  it  is  now 
doing  upon  its  own  bonds,  on  which  it  is  paying  inter 
est  ;  and  whereas  loans  upon  a  property  basis  would 
furnish  all  the  money  needed  without  cost  to  the  gov 
ernment,  and  a  fair  rate  of  interest  paid  by  the  bor 
rower  would  give  to  the  government  for  the  use  of  its 
credit  'in  bills  a  large  income  ;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  that  the  committee  on  finance  be 
instructed  to  inquire  what  relief  may  be  had,  particu 
larly  whether  loans  may  not  be  made  by  the  govern 
ment  upon  mortages  deposited  with  it  upon  real 
estate,  independent  of  improvements,  at  such  rate  and 
to  such  amount  only  as  will  make  security  to  the  gov 
ernment  perfect,  the  government  to  receive  some  small 
rate  of  interest  (from  1  to  2  per  cent),  ample  compen 
sation  for  the  use  of  its  credits,  and  to  prevent  undue 
application  for  loans  beyond  the  needs  of  the  country 
and  the  government,  as  a  farther  restraint  and  provi 
sion  against  an  over-issue,  if  such  thing  be  possible, 
upon  perfect  security  where  the  interest  is  very  slight, 
shall  provide  to  call  in  such  a  percentage  of  its  loans, 
from  time  to  time  upon  reasonable  notice,  as  it  may 
deem  necessary  at  its  own  discretion  for  the  welfare 
of  the  nation." 

During  his  remarks  Senator  Stanford  said  : 
"  From  the  earliest  civilization  there  has  existed  in 
all  countries  the  need  of  some  commodity  that  will 
stand  as  a  representative  of  values,  through  which 
exchanges  can  be  made  without  the  commodities  them 
selves  being  passed  from  hand  to  hand.  In  process 
of  time  gold  and  silver  came  into  use  for  this  purpose 
of  equalizing  exchange,  and  to-day,  when  stamped  by 
responsible  governments,  these  metals  have  a  value 
as  money  far  beyond  any  possible  value  they  might 
have  were  they  only  used  in  the  arts.  Money 
becomes  valuable  as  it  stimulates  industry  and  facili 
tates  the  exchange  of  the  products  of  men's  labor.  A 
government  bond  is  valuable  to  the  holder  on  account 
of  the  interest  it  earns.  As  an  energetic  factor  in  the 


LELAXD  STANFORD.  319 

transactions  of  men  it  only  amounts  to  the  percentage 
which  it  draws,  but  when  the  bondholder  by  deposit 
ing  it  with  the  government  receives  back  90  per  cent 
in  government  bills,  90  per  cent  of  its  value  becomes 
energized  into  an  active  commodity,  giving  employ 
ment  to  the  energies  of  the  country. 

"  In  like  manner,  if  the  farmer  were  able  to  borrow 
from  the  government  without  interest  a  certain  amount 
of  its  bills,  givinor  his  farm  as  securitv  therefor,  to 

'       O  O  •* 

that  extent  his  land  would  become  an  active  force,  and 
he  would  be  enabled,  while  giving  employment  to  the 
extent  of  the  money  loaned  him,  to  improve  his  farm 
and  increase  its  value  by  the  full  amount  of  the  loan. 
Thus  the  government  loan  would  be  doing  double 
duty.  Now,  the  activities  of  this  money  do  not 
terminate  with  its  expenditure  by  the  farmer.  Those 
who  have  received  it,  in  their  turn,  will  make  use  of  it 
as  an  energizing  factor  in  the  forces  of  life  to  an 
indefinite  period.  As  money  employs  labor  it  brings 
to  life  a  continuing  force,  labor  begetting  labor  as 
certainly  as  its  fruits  are  valuable. 

"Another  way  by  which  we  can  appreciate  what 
money  actively  used  may  perform  in  the  settlement 
of  balances,  is  to  be  found  in  the  value  of  commodi 
ties  produced  and  exchanged  as  compared  with  the 
amount  of  money  in  circulation.  How  far  the 
boundless  resources  of  our  country  shall  be  put  into 
activity  depends  not  only  upon  the  active  industry  of 
our  people,  but  upon  the  power  necessary  to  induce 
that  industry ;  and  it  should  be  the  fostering  care  of 
the  government  to  see  that  such  industry  receives 
every  encouragement.  An  abundant  supply  of  money 
means  to  individuals  of  capacity  a  field  for  the  use  of 
their  abilities  in  prosecuting  their  various  callings  of 
life,  and  will  be  particularly  valuable  to  associations 
of  individuals  by  affording  them  facilities  for  obtain 
ing  capital  for  the  transaction  of  every  kind  of  busi 
ness.  An  abundance  of  money  means  universal 
activity,  bringing  in  its  train  all  the  blessings  that 


320  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

belong  to  a  constantly  employed,  industrious,  intelli 
gent  people. 

"If  these  proposed  loans  could  be  made  by  the  gov 
ernment  without  risk,  I  do  not  think  there  would  be 
any  serious  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  accomplishment 
of  the  object  of  this  resolution.  In  my  opinion, 
ample  protection  would  be  afforded  the  government  if 
it  limited  its  loan  to  one  half  or  one  quarter  of  the 
assessed  value  of  the  property  given  as  security, 
and  upon  the  appraisement  of  government  officers 
especially  selected  for  that  duty." 

Our  civil  war  the  senator  regards  as  one  of  the 
greatest  conflicts  in  the  annals  of  nations.  As  to  the 
political  situation,  then  and  since,  right  is  one  thing, 
fact  is  another;  and  the  fact  concerning  the  revolted 
states  is  that  they  were  practically  out  of  the  union. 
The  southern  states  maintained  an  independent  gov 
ernment,  or  rather,  they  had  no  government  so  far  as 
the  north  was  concerned,  for  they  were  never  recog 
nized  as  independent.  For  four  years  the  north 
fought  them,  finally  driving  them  back  into  the  union. 

The  war  over,  the  seceded  states  should  have  been 
treated  as  conquered  territory,  reorganized  with  ter 
ritorial  governments,  and  with  such  boundaries  fixed 
as  would  have  been  most  convenient  and  just;  the 
federal  government  finally  to  admit  them,  like  other 
territory,  when  it  should  be  deemed  beneficial  to  all. 
But  as  this  method  was  not  acted  upon,  the  erring 
states  being  readmitted  and  placed  upon  a  common 
footing  with  the  loyal  states,  they  should  be  treated 
fairly,  every  possible  care  being  taken  to  make  us  one 
people.  There  should  be  one  government,  a  united 
nation;  but  while  the  south  should  not  be  allowed  to 
dictate  to  the  north,  the  north  will  be  glad  to  see  the 
south  prosper,  but  not  at  the  expense  of  the  north. 
The  laws  as  to  voting  should  be  revised  so  as  to  give 
that  privilege  only  to  those  who  can  read  and  write 
their  language.  If  we  should  say  that  no  one  can 
vote  who  was  not  six  feet  one  inch  in  height,  that 


LELAND  STANFORD.  321 

would  be  obviously  arbitrary  and  unfair ;  but  every 
one  can  learn  to  read  and  write,  though  not  everv  one 

O  v 

can  by  any  possibility  attain  the  same  height.  When 
the  individual  is  safe  the  nation  is  safe.  As  to  the 
general  effect  of  treating  the  south  as  conquered  ter 
ritory,  this  wrould  have  been  no  more"  than  justice. 
After  having  seceded  from  the  union  they  abandoned 
their  former  rights,  and  could  not  have  reasonably 
complained  had  their  former  boundaries,  or  even 
their  names,  been  set  aside  upon  reorganization  and 
read  mission. 

In  this  connection  it  maybe  mentioned  that  on  one 
occasion,  when  Mr  Seward,  whom  the  senator  con 
siders  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his  acre, 

O     7 

was  his  guest  at  dinner,  the  great  secretary,  after 
relating  to  him  the  story  of  the  Alaska  purchase, 
spoke  of  the  commissioners  from  Virginia,  who  had 
been  with  him  on  that  day  and  were  to  have  an  audi 
ence  with  the  president.  They  conversed  about  the 
union,  and  all  agreed  as  to  the  importance  of  preserv 
ing  it ;  but  whenever  the  issue  might  arise  requiring 
them  to  give  up  allegiance  either  to  the  general  gov 
ernment  or  to  their  state,  they  must  let  the  govern 
ment  go.  Then  Mr  Seward  began  to  curse  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina,  and  to  swear  vehemently  at  New 
York  and  New  Jersey,  consigning  to  perdition  every 
earthly  power  and  influence  which  stood  in  the  way 
of  the  enlargement  of  his  beloved  country,  which 
should  extend,  he  said,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific,  and  from  Panama  to  the  north  pole. 

Senator  Stanford  is  a  protectionist,  because  he 
would  see  the  country  self-supporting  and  independ 
ent  of  all  other  nations,  and  because,  having  a  surplus 
of  labor,  he  is  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  better  for  us 
to  do  our  own  work  than  to  have  some  one  else  do  it 
for  us.  During  the  war  three  millions  of  men  were 
drawn  from  the  community,  and  yet  no  trade  or  call 
ing  suffered  for  want  of  laborers.  Meanwhile  popu 
lation  has  steadily  increased,  and  idlers  also ;  and 

C.  B.— II.    21 


322  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

now,  with  an  abundance  of  labor  at  our  disposal,  we 
should  manufacture  our  own  goods,  even  if  we  have 
to  pay  more  for  certain  articles.  England,  with  her 
trained  artisans  and  improved  machinery,  is  not  afraid 
of  competition,  for  with  her  superior  facilities  she 
can  manufacture  more  cheaply  than  any  people  on 
the  continent.  She  therefore  clings  to  free  trade,  just 
as  we  do  with  certain  commodities,  as  wheat,  which 
we  can  produce  cheaper,  or  of  better  quality,  than 
India  or  Russia,  where  labor  is  worth  from  five  cents 
to  half  a  rouble  a  day. 

The  production  of  silver  is  one  of  the  greatest 
industries  of  our  country,  furnishing  employment  to 
a  vast  number  of  people,  though  it  has  been  esti 
mated  that  there  is  as  much  paid  out  for  the  labor  of 
producing  the  silver  as  the  bullion  produced  is  worth. 
This  product  is  taken  to  the  bank,  which  in  return 
issues  a  certificate  of  deposit.  Is  the  bank  any  poorer 
because  you  hold  that  certificate  as  against  bullion  in 
its  hands  ?  No  ;  but  the  paper  is  more  convenient 
for  you  to  carry  than  the  bullion  would  be.  Now, 
suppose  the  government  says  of  the  bullion,  "We 
will  take  it  at  what  it  is  worth ;  we  will  give  you  a 
certificate  which  entitles  you  to  come  here  and  draw 
money  in  silver  dollars,  or  in  gold,  or  in  paper."  You 
have  the  certificate,  and  so  you  do  not  want  either 
gold  or  paper.  The  government  cannot  lose  any 
thing,  for  it  receives  100  cents  value  in  silver  for  100 
cents  in  gold  or  paper.  But  this  silver  is  sold  at  80 
cents,  the  government  demanding  100  cents  in  value 
for  only  80  cents  in  gold  or  paper.  The  silver  dollar 
is  surely  worth  as  much  and  more  than  the  paper 
dollar,  for  in  the  former  is  the  actual  cost  ami  actual 
value,  and  in  the  latter  neither,  should  the  govern 
ment  credit  happen  to  decline. 

If  the  government  were  to  buy  four  millions  of 
silver  a  month,  it  is  the  opinion  of  Mr  Stanford— 
and  in  this  he  is   endorsed  by  senators  Jones  and 
Stewart — that  this  would  place  silver  at  par,  where 


LELAND  STANFORD.  323 

it  was  some  twenty  years  ago ;  and  would  thus  add 
twenty-five  per  cent  to  its  value,  which  would  enable 
men  to  work  their  mines  at  a  profit.  There  is  a 
marked  change  of  opinion  in  congress  in  regard  to  the 
silver  question;  yet  what  crude  ideas  are  still  enter 
tained  by  some  of  the  members  !  Speaking  with  one 
of  them  on  this  subject,  it  is  related  that  Senator 
Stanford  put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  and  drawing  out 
a  silver  dollar,  said,  "  What  is  that  worth  ?"  "About 
eighty  cents,"  was  the  reply.  "  Well,"  rejoined  the 
senator,  "I  do  not  wish  to  take  advantage  of  you  ;  I 
will  give  you  ninety-nine  cents  for  100,000  of  them." 
The  man  seemed  greatly  astonished,  and  Mr  Stan 
ford  continued,  "  Do  you  think  they  are  not  worth 
it  ?"  "  They  are  worth  only  eighty  cents,"  he  reiter 
ated.  "Then  suppose  that  these  were  pieces  of  paper, 
greenbacks,  we  will  say  ;  would  they  then  be  worth  a 
dollar?"  "Yes."  "Very  well;  is  not  the  govern 
ment  stamp  upon  a  piece  of  silver  as  valid  as  on  a 
piece  of  paper  ?"  From  the  position  taken  by  this 
man  and  others  of  his  school,  it  would  appear 
that  the  value  of  a  silver  dollar  depended  merely 
upon  the  amount  of  silver  which  it  contained.  Sena 
tor  Stanford  believes  that  silver  will  be  eventually 
reinstated,  not  only  in  our  own  market  but  through 
out  the  world.  There  is  no  reason  why  America 
should  allow  London  to  determine  the  price  of  silver. 
We  do  not  make  money  to  circulate  abroad.  Take 
our  eagles  fresh  from  the  mint  to  London,  and  the 
bankers  there  would  throw  them  into  the  scales 
and  weigh  them  to  ascertain  their  value. 

As  to  the  Chinese  question,  although  the  restriction 
act  was  an  arbitrary  and  unjust  proceeding  on  the 
part  of  the  government,  perpetrated  by  politicians  for 
party  purposes,  yet,  in  the  opinion  of  Senator  Stan 
ford,  it  was  an  assertion  of  our  right  to  determine 
who  shall  and  who  shall  not  come  to  this  country,  of 
our  right  to  stop  the  in-flowing  current  of  paupers 
and  vagabonds  ;  and  probably  it  would  have  been 


324  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

well  for  the  United  States  if  this  right  had  been 
exercised  fifty  years  ago. 

The  possibilities  of  California  he  considers  as 
beyond  our  wildest  conception.  Besides  the  great 
valley  of  California  there  are  innumerable  other  fer 
tile  valleys  of  greater  or  less  extent  in  the  Coast  range 
and  in  the  Sierra,  as  well  as  immense  areas  now  called 
deserts,  but  which  under  irrigation  prove  extremely 
prolific.  A  system  of  irrigation  should  be  devised 
and  carried  out  by  the  government.  Surveyors  should 
be  sent  out  all  over  California,  and  throughout  the 
region  beyond  to  the  eastern  base  of  the  Rocky 
mountains,  and  places  designated  where  water  can  be 
stored  and  work  begun.  A  few  score  millions 
expended  in  this  manner  would  yield  returns  a  hun 
dred  fold. 

The  government  should  likewise  provide  and 
improve  harbors  where  needed.  That  of  San  Diego, 
for  instance,  should  have  an  appropriation  such  as 
would  make  it  in  every  respect  a  first-class  harbor. 
There  is  a  large  commerce  which  should  have  an 
outlet  to  the  ocean  from  New  Orleans. 

In  summing  up  the  life  and  character  of  Leland 
Stanford,  the  biographer  has  no  easy  task.  While  I 
have  not  felt  called  upon  in  this  most  pleasing  and 
important  labor,  to  search  out  and  parade  those  slight 
flaws  and  imperfections  of  character  or  disposition 
which  every  man  possesses  in  a  greater  or  less  degree, 
least  of  all  to  indulge  in  that  captious  criticism  which 
some  regard  as  a  work  of  self-justification  or  a  test  of 
analytical  ability,  yet  it  is  no  part  of  my  nature  to 
state  what  is  not  true,  as  it  is  no  part  of  my  purpose 
to  over-estimate  qualities,  or  indulge  in  heroics  regard 
ing  any  man,  no  matter  how  much  I  may  find  in  him 
to  admire  and  emulate. 

First  of  all  let  us  ask  ourselves  and  answer  one 
question  :  What  is  human  greatness  ?  Then  after 
measuring  the  man  by  the  just  and  proper  standard 


LELAND  STANFORD.  325 

which  we  will  endeavor  to  establish,  let  whoever  can 
disprove  his  claim. 

There  are  various  schools  or  categories  of  great 
ness,  as  a  great  soldier,  a  great  preacher,  a  great  artist. 
Any  of  these  may  or  may  not  imply  purity  of  mind 
and  morals,  which  do  not  constitute  but  may  adorn 
greatness.  Pure  patriotism,  practical  philanthropy, 
able  statesmanship  are  fairer  measures  of  greatness 
than  any  others.  He  who  most  fully  possesses  the 
higher  qualities  is  nearest  akin  to  God,  the  greatest 
of  all ;  he  in  whom  is  united  the  most  of  them  is 
nearest  akin  to  God,  who  possesses  them  all.  He  is 
best  in  whom  is  united  most ;  he  is  greatest  who 
achieves  most.  On  this  platform  we  are  willing  to  place 
our  man,  and  by  this  text  to  have  decision  rendered. 
The  life  must  be  rich  in  results,  as  well  as  impossi 
bilities,  and  they  must  be  beneficial  results,  when  we 
talk  of  true  greatness.  Napoleon  was  in  some  respects 
great ;  in  others  he  was  as  the  desperado  numbering  his 
murders  by  notches  on  the  handle  of  his  bowie-knife. 
Senator  Stanford  and  his  colleagues  have  laid  open 
for  happy  homes  and  a  fair  civilization  more  territory 
than  ever  Alexander  destroyed.  Mr  Stanford  gave  more 
in  noblest  and  most  productive  benefactions  than  ever 
Csssar  spent  in  gladiatorial  shows.  And  so  I  might 
enlarge.  Men  are  often  called  great  by  reason  of 
their  dastardly  deeds.  I  could  not  measure  character 
by  such  a  standard.  It  is  not  the  quality  of  great 
ness  in  the  recording  of  which  I  can  derive  any  pleas 
ure  or  profit ;  it  is  not  the  quality  of  greatness  which 
may  truthfully  be  applied  to  Leland  Stanford. 

The  study  of  great  men  is  natural  and  beneficial.  It 
is  elevating  and  improving  to  search  out  in  every  com 
munity  those  who  have  accomplished  most  for  good, 
those  who  are  doing  most  for  the  advancement  of  mind 
and  the  purification  of  morals.  The  empire  of  progress 
can  be  built  only  on  a  firm  foundation,  for  the  elements 
of  evil  crumble,  and  the  edifice  totters.  In  our  admira 
tion  of  the  excellent  all  our  faculties  are  improved, 


326  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

Great  men  have  their  mission.  They  are  the 
embodiment  of  progress.  Mediocre  men  are  sta 
tionary.  Inferior  minds,  without  the  influence  of 
those  intellects  which  in  some  degree  dominate  events, 
are  retrograde.  These  cardinal  facts  are  tacitly 
admitted  by  all,  though  fully  apprehended  only  by  a 
few. 

It  is  proper  and  just  that  great  men  should  be 
emulated  and  honored.  It  is  by  them  and  through 
them  that  the  race  advances.  The  quality  of  the 
community  is  elevated  by  them ;  every  citizen  is 
raised  in  importance  through  the  genius  of  one  man. 
To  be  of  Athens  or  Rome,  or  Stratford-upon-Avon, 
is  to  have  been  bathed  in  the  atmosphere  perfumed 
by  the  god-like  in  humanity.  Every  city  has  its  leading 
citizens — those  who  built  it,  organized  within  it  a 

tovernment,  established  there  commerce  and  manu- 
ictories,  erected  temples  dedicated  to  religion  and 
education,  and  set  examples  for  high  progress  and 
pure  morality.  There  would  otherwise  be  no  city. 

A  leader  of  people,  a  ruler  of  men,  need  not  neces 
sarily  be  endowed  with  a  title  or  hold  political  office. 
A  person  may  now  command  by  reason  of  his  intel 
lectual  superiority,  as  heroes  and  demi-gods  formerly 
commanded  on  account  of  their  physical  superiority. 
Or  from  his  skill  in  science,  art,  commerce,  manufac 
tures  ;  from  his  charm  of  manner,  his  position  in  soci 
ety,  he  may  influence  others  to  do  his  will,  no  less 
than  through  the  power  of  wealth.  There  is  strength 
in  association,  in  affection.  We  can  do  nothing  alone  ; 
we  cannot  speak  our  own  words  or  think  our  own 
thoughts  except  as  they  are  called  forth  by  others. 
A  strong  man  in  his  proper  place  accomplishes  won 
ders.  Fertile  in  his  imagination,  magnetic,  with 
energy  and  constructive  ability,  he  becomes  conspicu 
ous  in  spite  of  himself.  He  cannot  help  being  great. 

"  I  admire  great  men  of  all  classes,"  says  Emerson  ; 
"  those  who  stand  for  facts  and  for  thoughts.  I  like 
rough  and  smooth,  scourges  of  God  and  darlings  of 


LELAND  STANFORD.  327 

the  human  race.  I  applaud  a  sufficient  man — an  offi 
cer  equal  to  his  office — captains,  ministers,  senators. 
I  like  a  master  standing  firm  on  legs  of  iron,  well 
born,  rich,  handsome,  eloquent,  loaded  with  advan 
tages,  drawing  all  men  by  fascinations  into  tributaries 
and  supporters  of  his  power.  Sword  and  staff,  or 
talents  sword-like  or  staff-like,  carry  on  the  work  of 
the  world.  But  I  find  him  greater  when  he  can 
abolish  himself  and  all  heroes  by  letting  in  this  ele 
ment  of  reason,  irrespective  of  persons,  this  subtilizer 
and  irresistible  upward  force,  into  our  thoughts, 
destroying  individualism,  the  power  so  great  that  the 
potentate  is  nothing.  Then  he  is  a  monarch  who 
gives  a  constitution  to  his  people,  a  pontiff  who 
preaches  the  equality  of  souls  and  releases  his  serv 
ants  from  their  barbarous  homages,  an  emperor  who 
can  spare  his  empire.  The  study  of  many  individuals 
leads  into  an  elemental  region,  wherein  the  individual 
is  lost  or  wherein  all  touch  by  their  summits.  Thought 
and  feeling  that  break  out  there  cannot  be  impounded 
by  any  fence  of  personality.  This  is  the  key  to  the 
power  of  the  greatest  men — their  spirit  diffuses  itself. 
A  new  quality  of  mind  travels  by  day  and  by  night 
in  concentric  circles  from  its  origin." 

With  his  qualities  of  mind  and  heart  the  sena 
tor  combines  the  advantages  of  a  strong  physique 
and  a  constitution  unshaken  by  serious  sickness.  In 
height  he  is  five  feet  eleven  inches,  and  well-propor 
tioned.  Before  he  was  twenty-nine  years  of  age  his 
weight  never  exceeded  190  pounds,  but  at  thirty 
increased  to  200,  and  in  later  years  reached  268.  This 
he  regarded  as  excessive,  and  therefore  reduced  it  to 
238.  He  regulates  his  diet  with  scrupulous  care, 
eating  simple  food  and  taking  every  precaution  neces 
sary  to  preserve  his  health.  His  family  and  rela 
tives  have  generally  reached  old  age,  one  uncle  dying 
at  eighty-seven  and  a  brother  at  ninety-three.  His 
father,  grandfather,  and  mother  all  died  of  pneumonia, 
the  first  at  the  age  of  seventy  and  the  last  at  eighty- 


328  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

three.  In  every  respect  he  is  physically  a  fine  speci 
men  of  manhood — broad-chested,  with  erect  carriage, 
countenance  firm  but  pleasing,  and  in  manner  urbane 
and  courtly.  A  man  of  few  words,  though  not  what 
is  termed  reticent,  his  quietness  of  demeanor  is  of 
itself  a  power.  By  that  repose  in  his  nature  which 
is  the  equipoise  of  a  well-balanced  mind  he  commands 
the  confidence  and  respectful  admiration  of  all  with 
whom  he  comes  in  contact.  Every  act  of  his  life 
seems  to  have  been  one  in  a  continuity  of  purpose, 
arising  from  the  constant  and  deliberate  exercise  of 

^5 

reason  and  judgment.  He  generally  breakfasts  at 
eight,  taking  usually  three  eggs,  a  slice  of  dry  toast  and 
two  cups  of  coffee  ;  at  one  o'clock  a  luncheon  or  dinner 
of  roast  meat,  vegetables;  and  a  little  claret,  cold  ham, 
bread  and  butter,  and  tea  at  six.  When  he  has  com 
pany  and  an  elaborate  dinner  he  confines  himself  to 
his  usual  fare.  He  retires  at  ten.  He  is  fond  of 
music,  and  is  a  patron  of  art  and  learning.  On  Sun 
day  the  family  have  morning  prayers,  and  in  the  eve 
ning  sacred  music.  Mr  Stanford  always  reads  a 
prayer  at  the  breakfast  table,  preferring  those  con 
tained  in  Abbott's  book. 

In  analyzing  his  characteristics  we  see  first  of  all  a 
man  fully  in  possession  of  himself,  master  of  all  his 
faculties,  and  endowed  by  nature  with  good  sense  and 
worldly  wisdom  in  such  happy  combination  with 
other  inward  vital  forces  as  to  constitute  the  seeds  of 
great  things.  Not  only  did  the  development  of  his 
mental  powers  begin  in  early  life,  but  continued  long 
past  the  period  when  the  faculties  of  most  men  become 
fixed.  In  one  sense  he  may  be  regarded  as  the  nat 
ural  outcome  of  our  phenomenal  development,  but 
with  this  addition  that  in  him  is  embodied  the  ideal 
or  leadership  in  all  our  politics  and  industries ;  while 
imprinting  his  mind  upon  the  mountains  and  plains, 
he  is  essentially  the  product  of  modern  thought  and 
development. 

Though  dominating  minds  command  his  respect,  he 


LELAND  STANFORD.  329 

never  indulges  in  flattery  or  stoops  to  the  hypocrisies 
of  the  diplomat.  Of  man's  unfathomable  vanity  he 
was  fully  aware,  but  such  pride  as  he  possesses  is 
of  the  healthy,  invigorating  kind,  without  which  no 
good  work  can  ever  be  accomplished.  It  is  in  acts 
that  he  lives  rather  than  in  words. 

There  are  present  to-day  no  evidences  whatever  of 
the  debasing  effects  of  a  life  of  sordid  selfishness. 

Had  nature  given  him  a  frail  physique  his  work 
would  never  have  been  accomplished.  Even  though 
possessed  of  the  intellect  to  conceive,  it  would  have 
been  a  fatal  hindrance  in  the  execution. 

Once  cut  loose  from  the  trammels  of  fear  and  hesi 
tancy,  and  well  out  upon  an  unknown  sea  of  enter 
prise,  his  course  seems  to  have  been  directed  almost 
by  divination.  Ever  present  was  that  superior  though 
somewhat  dangerous  quality  of  intuition  by  which 
was  made  of  ever)  isolated  circumstance  all  that  was 
possible.. 

The  meeting  of  the  man  and  the  opportunity 
makes  the  event ;  were  it  not  for  the  occasion  the 
biography  of  Leland  Stanford  might  possibly  be 
given  as  an  interesting  story  of  country  life  :  were  it 
not  for  the  man  the  world  would  be  always  a  century 
or  two  behind  time.  The  even  tones  in  which  his 
opinions  are  expressed  show  a  decisive  character.  In 
judging  his  fellow-men  he  entertains  a  most  charitable 
theory,  namely,  that  all  have  good  qualities  and  that 
we  are  apt  to  place  too  low  an  estimate  on  the  merits 
of  those  who  do  not  know.  Neither  the  prejudice 
of  ignorance  nor  the  calumny  of  the  envious  can 
exhaust  his  patience  or  disturb  his  belief  in  the  integ 
rity  of  human  nature.  Hence  he  cannot  long  harbor 
resentment,  and  never  indulges  in  revengeful  feelings. 

In  business  councils  he  is  a  good  listener ;  in  the 
field  of  action  he  labors  for  certain  results.  His 
strongest  logic  is  the  accomplishment  of  results. 

In  his  friendships  he  is  cordial  and  sincere,  with 
warm  hospitality  and  unreserved  conversational  inter- 


330  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

course.  Whatever  the  proposition  or  enterprise,  if 
once  undertaken  he  is  found  to  have  strong  staying 
qualities. 

Success  is  not  always  the  mark  of  talent ;  but 
where  the  success  is  great  and  continuous,  particu 
larly  when  it  leads  us  into  various  fields  of  enterprise 
and  usefulness,  there  is  certain  to  be  also  great  talent, 
and  in  any  extraordinary  success  of  talent  there  is  a 
corresponding  sympathy  among  the  people.  Every 
one  is  interested  in  beholding  a  victory  of  the  intel 
lectual  over  the  material,  or  of  spirit  and  skill  over 
apathy  and  indifference.  And  in  Senator  Stanford 
success  seemed  to  increase  rather  than  diminish  his 
human  sympathies.  In  his  case  success  was  more  the 
result  of  ability  than  of  fortuitous  events,  though  at 
times  one  is  aided  or  dominated  by  the  other.  It  was 
not  chance  which  placed  him  on  the  side  of  right  and 
humanity  on  reaching  manhood,  at  the  time  the  great 
issue  of  freedom  or  slavery  was  being  so  hotly  dis 
cussed.  It  was  not  chance  which  gave  to  California, 
in  her  hour  of  peril,  that  calm  courage  and  counsel, 
springing  from  true  nobility  of  character,  which 
exerted  so  powerful  an  influence  in  saving  her  from 
the  crime  of  disunion. 

Mr  Stanford's  success  in  life  is  largely  due  to  the 
fact  that  he  always  had  a  steady  purpose  in  view, 
and  persistently  pressed  forward  to  the  accomplish 
ment  of  the  desired  result.  His  great  influence  over 
others  is  due  primarily  to  his  inherent  sincerity. 
Himself  believing  every  word  he  utters  to  be  true, 
he  has  no  trouble  in  impressing  the  truth  of  his  con 
victions  on  the  minds  of  others.  He  has  always 
entertained  the  greatest  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph 
of  the  right.  There  have  been  times  when  the  oppo 
nents  of  his  enterprises  pressed  hard  upon  him,  but 
through  it  all  he  felt  that  he  was  right  and  that  time 
would  fully  vindicate  his  acts.  Had  he  not  been 
always  satisfied  of  this,  he  would  have  been  deeply 
concerned, 


LELAXD  STANFORD.  331 

Among  his  mental  attributes  there  stands  forth 
conspicuously  originality  of  thought  and  clearness  of 
perception,  with  an  analytical  power  that  reverts 
instinctively  to  underlying  principles,  and  brings  with 
every  consequence  a  cause. 

In  politics  and  the  philosophy  of  history  he  has 
always  taken  a  profound  interest,  as  well  as  in  science 
and  art,  though  in  reading  his  tastes  are  discriminat- 

inor  rather  than  universal.     Whatever  knowledge  his 

Pi 

mind  seizes  upon,  it  assimilates,  so  that  his  conversa 
tion  is  as  rich  in  ideas  and  information  as  if  the  topic 
under  discussion  were  one  of  which  he  had  made 
special  study. 

Charity  has  ever  been  conspicuous  among  Mr 
Stanford's  virtues.  His  minor  benefactions  have  been 
liberal  and  continuous,  but  it  is  impossible  to  enumer 
ate  them.  Many  young  men  he  has  started  in  life  ; 
many  older  ones  he  has  rescued  from  ruin.  His  sym 
pathies  with  the  meritorious  poor  have  always  been 
broad  and  deep. 

He  has  ever  been  a  great  reader  of  the  journals  of 
the  day,  and  fully  recognizes  the  influence  of  the  press. 
On  one  occasion  he  remarked,  "  Not  the  richest  banker 
nor  the  ablest  lawyer  wield  as  much  power  as  an 
ordinary  newspaper  reporter." 

Says  a  friend  and  keen  observer  :  "  There  are  few 
men  of  whom  a  portrait  painted  from  casual  impres 
sions,  as  compared  with  that  produced  from  intimate 
relations,  would  present  such  striking  contradiction 
and  variation  of  feature.  To  a  casual  acquaintance 
ship  Governor  Stanford  would  be  remembered  for  the 
genial  cordiality  of  his  greeting,  for  the  polite,  almost 
complimentary,  deference  to  the  opinions  or  peculiari 
ties  of  one  in  first  contact.  If  an  accurate  standard 
of  measurement  existed,  whereby  one  could  discern 
what  each  of  the  individuals  in  a  first  conversation 
had  learned  of  each  other,  it  would  be  discovered  that 
Governor  Stanford  knew  far  more  of  the  mental 
attributes  and  the  character  of  his  visitor  than  the 


332  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

latter  had  learned  of  him.  This  trait  of  character 
is  attributable  to  the  absence  of  egotism.  To  casual 
acquaintanceship,  therefore,  Governor  Stanford  pre 
sents  the  character  of  one  possessing  the  attributes 
of  genial  suavity,  coupled  with  modest  reserve ;  one 
slow  in  thought  and  deliberate  in  judgment.  To  a 
more  intimate  acquaintanceship,  however,  these  feat 
ures,  while  not  wholly  lost,  will  undergo  many  radical 
transformations.  As  he  stands  revealed  to  his  friends, 
and  those  who  have  known  him  most  intimately,  be 
is  remembered  as  possessed  of  the  most  active  mental 
traits ;  as  having  a  mind  constantly  in  motion ;  as 
endowed  with  quick  sympathies,  imaginative  percep 
tion,  and  most  magnetic  influences.  In  the  largeness 
and  charitableness  of  his  mind,  friendship  feels  to 
have  strong  anchorage  ground.  In  the  judicial  fair 
ness  of  his  conclusions,  action  finds  the  assurance  of 
just  judgment.  A  careful  student  of  motive,  he  sel 
dom  misjudges  the  intentions  of  men,  and  never 
judges  them  in  the  spirit  of  uncharitableness." 

One  conspicuous  characteristic  is  his  faith  in  his 
fellow-men.  It  is  not  a  little  remarkable,  and  cer 
tainly  speaks  well,  no  less  for  his  kindness  of  heart 
than" for  the  integrity  of  the  race,  to  find  one  whose 
time  has  been  so  occupied  in  the  active  affairs  of  life 
as  to  bring  him  constantly  in  contact  with  men  of  all 
kinds  and  classes,  holding  human  nature  in  such 
charitable  esteem.  "  The  people  are  honest/'  he  used 
frequently  to  say  while  in  political  life  :  "  the  majority 
of  men  desire  to  do  right."  "  I  believe  in  the  right  of 
men  to  do  better,"  he  remarked  on  one  occasion, 
would  not  dare  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  obstruct 
ing  or  defeating  any  honest  intention  or  reformation." 

Said  Meissonnier,  when  painting  his  portrait  :  "I 
am  not  merely  trying  to  make  a  likeness  of  this  man, 
but  to  show  the  breadth  of  his  character  and  strength 
of  his  will,  and  the  versatility  of  his  mind  and  con 
ception."  He  endeavored  to  bring  them  all  out  in 
this  picture,  which  some  like,  while  others  do  not.  At 


LELAND  STAXFORD.  333 

all  events  the  subject  impressed  him  greatly.  He 
had  made  his  reputation  from  painting  portraits  of 
great  men.  The  artist  read  Mr  Stanford's  character, 
although  he  had  not  known  him  personally.  He  has 
all  the  depth,  breadth,  and  versatility  which  Meis- 
sonier  found  out,  and  to  a  certain  extent  has  repro 
duced.  Besides  this,  he  has  great  kindliness  of  dis 
position  and  friendliness  of  manner,  which  shows  itself 
in  his  face.  So  much  so,  that  one  day  in  Los  Angeles 
a  leading  politician  remarked  :  "I  saw  Governor 
Stanford  for  the  first  time  at  a  meeting,  and  when  he 
arose  to  speak  I  thought  to  myself  that  is  the  best 
and  kindest  face  I  ever  beheld  in  my  life."  Another 
instance  which  occurred  some  years  ago  is  worthy 
of  mention.  A  man  was  standing  on  the  steps  of 
the  Windsor  hotel,  New  York,  when  Mr  Stanford 
stepped  from  his  carriage  and  entered  the  building. 
A  stranger  stepped  up  to  the  former  and  said,  "  Is 
that  Governor  Stanford?"  "Yes,"  was  the  reply. 
"  Well,"  the  man  continued,  "  If  I  had  a  little  money 
and  did  not  know  where  to  put  it,  I  would  buy  some 
Southern  Pacific  bonds  on  the  strength  of  that  face." 
Savs  another  intimate  friend:  "The  recognition 
which  he  receives  in  the  east  and  foreign  lands  is  even 
more  marked  than  that  which  he  enjoys  on  this 
coast.  On  one  occasion  President  Hayes  remarked  : 
"I  wish  I  had  known  you  earlier,  I  would  have  been 
glad  to  have  had  you  in  my  cabinet.'  It  is  a  matter  of 
some  surprise  to  me  how  soon  his  merits  are  recog 
nized.  When  we  were  in  Paris  they  would  consult 
him  on  railroad  matters ;  and  when  we  were  in  Eng 
land,  travelling  down  from  Liverpool  to  London,  Mr 
Childers,  and  two  or  three  other  members  of  the  par 
liament,  hearing  that  he  was  an  American,  and  presi 
dent  of  the  Southern  Pacific  railroad,  invited  him  to 
a  seat  in  their  car,  and  he  talked  with  them  on  the 
way  down.  Some  of  them  had  just  returned  from 
the  United  States,  and  were  somewhat  disappointed 
with  their  own  country  in  contrast  with  the  United 


334  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

States.  They  said  to  the  governor,  "  We  have  noth 
ing  here  like  your  broad  prairies ;  we  cannot  raise 
those  immense  crops  of  grain  ;  we  see  ahead  of  us  no 
greater  prosperity  than  we  have  now  ;  and  we  see 
ahead  of  you  everything."  They  were  a  little  dis 
heartened.  He  explained  to  them  that  England  was 
large  enough  for  a  thousand  million  of  people,  and 
that  her  manufactures  and  supply  of  labor  would 
be  something  wonderful.  Thus  they  were  greatly 
impressed  by  his  power  to  make  them  see  in  their 
own  country  that  which  they  themselves  had  failed 
to  observe. 

"  When  he  was  in  Hamburg  he  met  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  conservatives,  who  asked  him  to  come 
in  and  talk  with  him,  that  he  might  get  some  new 
ideas  for  use  in  his  parliament.  The  governor  accepted 
the  invitation  to  the  profit  and  pleasure  of  the  mem 
ber.  When  he  went  to  Constantinople  he  met  some 
of  the  Turkish  magnates,  and  the  sultan  requested 
him  to  call,  saying  that  he  wished  for  a  conversation 
with  him,  whereupon  the  governor  spent  with  him  an 
entire  afternoon.  The  sultan  consulted  him  on  railroad 
matters,  and  asked  his  advice  as  to  how  he  could 
improve  the  prosperity  of  Turkey,  attaching  great 
weight  to  his  ideas. 

C? 

"  Though  slow  to  decide,  he  was  quick  to  act.  He 
would  take  anything  under  consideration,  and  some 
times  consider  it  so  long  that  one  might  think  it  had 
escaped  his  memory.  Then  he  would  say,  '  I  have 
not  forgotten  it.'  And  when  the  proper  time  came 
he  would  act  at  once,  and  put  every  nerve  and  sinew 
into  the  work.  In  business  his  memory  of  details  is 
remarkable ;  but  then  he  works  as  little  as  possible 
at  details  ;  he  does  not  expect  thus  to  work,  but 
trusts  to  his  employes  fully  and  implicitly.  Yet,  at 
the  same  time,  he  seems  master  of  everything,  and 
he  surprises  them  sometimes  with  figures  and  data 
which  they  think  have  escaped  his  memory.  He 
has  a  thoroughly  practical  knowledge  of  railroad 


LELAND   STANFORD.  335 

operation.  Although  he  has  never  operated  one  him 
self,  yet  he  used  to  be  general  manager  of  the  road, 
and  has  still  all  the  general  shaping  of  its  policy ; 
that  is  to  say,  nothing  is  done  without  his  approval, 
and  though  very  often  there  is  a  difference  of  opinion, 
invariably  his  own  opinion  is  the  one  that  prevails. 
Everything  is  passed  upon  by  him,  but  the  actual 
operation  of  the  road  he  leaves  to  subordinates. 

"  We  know  some  men  who  are  famous  as  states 
men,  others  as  great  artists,  and  others  as  lawyers ; 
but  he  seems  to  be  a  many-sided  man.  He  is  literary 
in  his  tastes,  and  his  reading  is  of  a  very  solid  kind  ; 
he  has  been  very  persistent  in  all  that  pertains  to 
national  and  ancient  history.  We  have,  at  school, 
read  these  subjects,  though  very  few  of  us  are 
acquainted  with  them  ;  but  he  seem  sable  to  illustrate 
them  and  to  apply  the  teachings  which  they  convey. 
On  all  points  he  is  well  informed.  If  an  architect 
comes  to  him  he  will  talk  with  him  as  intelligently  as 
if  he  were  himself  an  architect ;  or  if  an  artist  calls 
with  a  picture  for  him  to  buy,  he  will  branch  off  on 
some  topic,  and  the  man  will  rise  to  go  ;  but  the  gov 
ernor  will  say,  '  Sit  down,  I  want  to  ask  you  some 
thing,'  and  will  launch  forth  into  a  dissertation  on 
art,  and  discuss  the  old  and  new  masters  with  such 
nicety  of  taste  and  discrimination  as  to  surprise  his 
visitor.  Among  statesmen  he  is  a  statesman,  and 
among  railroad  men  he  is  a  king ;  among  scientific 
men  he  is  an  intelligent  talker  and  listener,  and 
among  theologians  he  can  hold  his  own.  He  has 
some  very  strong  views,  but  like  many  other  traits  in 
his  character,  they  are  kept  under  until  the  proper 
time  for  their  display. 

"  Senator  Stanford  is  a  man  whose  mind  is  deep, 
well  poised,  and  of  a  judicial  cast.  Before  taking 
action  he  examines  the  subject  matter  carefully  and 
thoroughly,  first  on  one  side,  and  then  on  the  other, 
revolving  it  in  his  mind,  and  when  he  has  finished  his 
examination,  understand  sit  fully.  Such  a  man  rarely 


336  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

needs  to  retrace  his  steps.  His  great  success  has 
come  to  him  because  of  his  absolute  honesty  of  pur 
pose.  He  impresses  you  with  the  fact  that  it  is  his 
desire  to  do  that  thing  which  is  absolutely  right.  If 
this  is  so,  if  I  am  right  in  my  analysis  of  the  man,  is 
it  any  wonder  that  he  succeeds  ?  If  it  is  true  that 
right  is  omnipotent  and  must  prevail,  ought  not  such 
men  to  succeed  in  every  undertaking  ? 

"It  has  been  said  that  'the  genius  of  observation 
is  well  nigh  all  the  genius  of  mankind.'  Certainly 
Governor  Stanford  possesses  in  a  remarkable  degree 
this  genius  of  observation.  He  seems  to  absorb 
whatever  there  is  about  him  that  is  worthy  of  exami 
nation.  The  result  is  a  mind  stored  with  varied 
riches,  upon  which  he  draws  as  upon  an  inexhausti 
ble  reserve  fund,  and  from  wThich  he  gives  to  others 
not  only  food  for  reflection  but  material  for  elaborate 
and  logical  arguments.  He  is  a  man  of  rare  reflect 
ive  power  and  wonderful  concentration,  while  his  per 
ceptive  faculties  are  marked  and  strongly  developed  ; 
in  a  word,  he  readily  sees  the  strong  as  well  as  the 
weak  points  in  both  men  and  subjects.  Having  decided 
that  a  certain  course  is  right,  and  that  he  will  accom 
plish  certain  objects,  it  is  difficult  for  him  to  see  any 
obstacle  in  the  way  that  cannot  be  overcome  ;  hence 
his  tenacity  of  purpose  is  simply  wonderful,  and  his 
efforts  only  cease  with  the  accomplishment  of  his 
purpose.  His  far-sightedness  is  apparent  in  every 
thing  he  has  undertaken.  With  him,  it  is  not  build- 

O 

ing  to-day  simply  for  to-morrow,  but  laying  the  foun 
dation  for  all  time. 

"  He  impresses  me  as  a  man  who,  should  he  differ 
with  his  associates  as  to  questions  of  policy  (which, 
however,  I  presume  rarely,  if  ever,  occurs)  and  should 
be  overruled  by  them,  he  would  immediately,  so  far 
as  in  his  power,  carry  out  the  ideas  of  the  majority, 
and  would  be  the  last  one  ever  to  refer  to  the  fact 
that  he  was  not  working  upon  a  plan  wholly  in  sym 
pathy  with  his  own  views  and  ideas.  His  is  indeed 


LELAND  STANFORD.  337 

a  large,  broad,  and  comprehensive  mind,  that  rises 
above  the  little  things  of  life. 

"  His  capacity  for  labor  is  now,  and  always  has 
been,  remarkable.  If  the  impression  prevails  that  he 
works  slowly,  in  my  judgment  it  is  erroneous.  His 
apparent  lack  of  speed  is  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that 
he  labors  while  other  men  play,  while  other  men 
talk  or  sleep.  You  say,  how  is  this  ?  Let  ine 
explain.  His  mind  is  so  formed  that,  while  you  con 
verse  with  him,  it  takes  in  and  absorbs  what  you  have  to 
say,  grasping  the  ideas  that  you  advance ;  others  talk 
to  him  and  the  same  process  of  absorption  is  going 
on.  And  all  these  propositions — many  of  them  of  an 
entirely  different  character — are  undergoing  a  solu 
tion  in  his  mind,  as  it  were,  at  the  same  time.  Thus 
while  he  is  discussing  one  thing,  and  his  mind  is 
seemingly  concentrated  on  that  one  thing,  there  is  an 
analysis  of  other  matter  going  forward  at  the  same 
time.  I  am  impressed  with  the  idea  that  he  would 
rather  not  hear  unpleasant  things ;  but  if  they  must 
come,  he  has  the  courage  to  dispose  of  them  manfully. 
He  is  a  man  who  would  not  seek  a  controversy,  but 
once  in  it  the  fight  would  be  a  determined  one.  In 
dealing  with  those  who  have  wronged  him,  I  judge 
that  it  would  be  a  satisfaction  to  him  to  do  them  an 
act  of  kindness  in  return  for  their  wrong;  and  their 
seeking  him  and  asking  a  favor  at  his  hands  would 
be  evidence  to  his  mind,  not  of  their  littleness,  not  of 
their  lack  of  manliness,  but  that  they  had  realized  the 
wrong  they  had  done  him,  and  he  would  embrace  the 
opportunity  to  return  them  good  for  evil. 

"  In  connection  with  his  capacity  for  labor,  it  may 
be  remarked  that  he  goes  from  one  subject  to  another 
with  great  ease,  taking  up  and  doing  well  one  thing 
up  to  the  point  where  something  else  comes  in,  and 
he  is  compelled  to  lay  down  the  first  subject,  whatever 
it  may  be.  Thus  he  goes  forward,  his  method  being 
accounted  for  by  the  peculiar  formation  of  his  mind. 
Whatever  he  has  in  his  mind — and  it  is  capable  of 

C.  B.IL    22 


338  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

holding  many  things — is  being  worked  out  and  anal 
yzed  clearly  and  fully,  and  made  ready  for  use  to  be 
called  upon  whenever  required. 

"  One  who  stands  very  close  to  him,  and  is  himself 
a  good  reader  of  men,  and  in  no  sense  a  man-wor 
shiper,  one  who  certainly  has  had  the  opportunity  to 
know  the  governor  thoroughly,  said  to  me  :  '  During 
the  first  year  I  was  with  Governor  Stanford  he 
humiliated  me  more,  though  not  intentionally,  than 
any  man  I  ever  came  in  contact  with,  and  in  this  way  : 
When  first  engaged  by  him  for  work  connected  with 
the  railroad  companies  in  which  he  was  interested,  I 
gathered  from  him  in  a  few  words  the  particular 
duties  I  was  to  perform.  Whenever  I  discovered 
what  would  be  of  particular  interest  to  him,  and 
what  he  ought  to  know,  I  would  seek  an  opportunity 
and  quietly  mention  the  matter  to  him.  He  would 
listen  in  silence,  and  I  hardly  knew  whether  atten 
tively  or  not,  for  he  usually  dismissed  the  subject 
with  a  remark  apparently  foreign  to  the  matter  I  had 
attempted  to  present.  This  was  done  repeatedly 
before  I  learned  to  know  the  man.  I  would  fre 
quently  leave  him,  crestfallen,  and  wondering  whether 
the  matter  I  had  brought  to  his  attention  was  so 
trifling  that  he,  with  his  large  mind,  and  in  view  of 
more  important  things,  deemed  it  unworthy  of  atten 
tion.  But  later  I  found  that  whatever  it  was  that  I 
brought  to  his  attention  he  never  failed  to  recollect 
it  at  some  future  day,  and  that  in  time  to  be  acted 
upon.  He  would  say,  "Well,  a  few  days  ago  [when 
it  might  have  been  weeks],  or,  a  few  weeks  ago 
[when  it  might  have  been  months],  you  were  speak 
ing  to  me  about  so-and-so  ;  do  you  know,  I  have  been 
thinking  about  that  matter."  He  would  recollect  the 
circumstances,  and  discuss  the  subject  as  a  new  and 
original  proposition.  Incidents  like  the  foregoing 
impressed  me  with  his  wonderfully  retentive  memory, 
and  his  habit  of  never  dismissing,  but  constantly 
remembering  and  revolving  in  his  mind  propositions 


LELAND  STANFORD.  339 

that  seemingly  had  been,  and  with  most  men  would 
have  been,  laid  aside  entirely.' 

"  He  is  a  man  who  has  not  only  read  deeply  of 
books,  and  those  of  the  very  best,  but  he  has,  as  I 
have  said  before,  read  men,  and  possesses  in  a  very 
marked  degree  that  knowledge  which  Bacon  says  is 
over,  outside  of,  and  above  books.  He  is  a  man  of 
whom  any  nation  might  be  proud ;  one  who  is  doing 
a  work  to-day  that  will  bless  mankind  for  centuries 
to  come  ;  one  who,  though  in  a  sense  appreciated,  is 
yet  not  fully  appreciated ;  one  who,  while  interested 
in  everything  that  affects  humanity  and  living  very 
close  to  his  fellow-men,  yet,  without  desiring  to  do 
so,  or  being  indeed  at  all  aware  of  it,  is  still  living 
above  them,  and,  as  it  were,  in  a  higher  plane." 

"In  his  home  life,"  writes  another,  " there  is  an 
absolute  simplicity  about  him  which  makes  it  hard 
for  those  of  his  household  to  realize  that  he  is  a  man 
of  power  and  a  leader  of  men  in  the  outside  world. 
But  he  has  a  great  power  of  drawing  to  him  the 
affections  of  all  who  are  brought  into  contact  with 
him,  or  who  have  to  serve  him  in  any  business  rela 
tion,  or  in  any  branch  of  employment.  This  is  due 
very  largely  to  his  personality  and  to  a  gentleness  of 
manner,  which  all  who  have  met  him  recognize  at 
once,  and  with  which  all  strangers  are  charmed.  But 
while  many  of  our  great  men  have  a  wonderful  open 
ness,  kindliness  of  manner,  for  the  public,  it  is  very 
often  the  case  that  they  leave  this  behind  them  when 
they  come  into  the  atmosphere  of  their  own  homes. 
With  him  it  is  the  reverse.  He  is  kinder,  softer, 
gentler  at  his  home  than  anywhere  else.  He  is  a 
gentle  man  ;  that  expresses  it  in  two  words.  He 
seems  to  inspire  those  around  him  with  a  desire  to 
anticipate  his  wants,  because  they  know  how  unwil 
ling  he  is  to  find  fault,  and  how  much  greater  satis 
faction  it  gives  him  to  praise  than  to  blame.  People 
are  apt  to  think  and  have  thought  that  he  carries 
this  to  an  extreme.  There  have  no  doubt  been  times 


340  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

when  he  has  been  imposed  upon,  and  natures  such  as 
his  always  will  be,  so  long  as  there  are  bad  men  in 
this  world.  His  attachment  to  all  members  of  the 
family  is  very  great,  and  he  instinctively  seems  to 
feel  that  those  of  his  blood  have  a  claim  on  him." 

And  thus  still  another  of  his  intimate  friends  :  "  I 
would  say  of  Leland  Stanford  that  he  is  one  of  the 
broadest  and  most  comprehensive  men  I  have  ever 
met.  I  do  not  claim  that  he  is  faultless,  for  as  a 
human  being  he  must  have  faults ;  but  he  is  benevo 
lent,  he  is  charitable  and  he  is  just.  He  is  remark 
ably  slow  to  act,  so  slow  that  I  sometimes  seriously 
doubt  the  propriety  of  his  non-action,  or  deliberation 
with  which  he  makes  up  his  mind.  But  he  never 
does  make  up  his  mind  until  he  has  heard  all  sides  of 
a  question.  He  never  makes  up  his  mind  from  an 
ex-parte  statement.  He  says,  '  That  story  is  good 
until  I  hear  the  other  side.'  He  has  the  utmost  con 
fidence  in  human  friendship ;  he  believes  in  his 
friends.  A  man  who  has  seemingly  unselfishly  done 
him  a  favor  he  never  forgets.  Thus  a  man  is  in  a 
position  to  impose  upon  him,  if  he  chooses  to  do  so,  a 
score  of  times  for  the  one  favor  he  may  have  rendered 
years  ago. 

"  The  governor  has  great  charity  for  mankind  ;  for 
the  shortcomings  of  men  and  for  their  imperfections ; 
yet  he  likes  them  to  be  constant  and  appreciates  those 
who  make  the  fewest  mistakes.  He  would  have 
made  a  profound  lawyer  and  a  splendid  jurist  had  he 
devoted  his  life  to  the  profession  of  law — nothing 
brilliant,  but  sturdy  and  deep.  His  scope  of  mind  is 
broad  and  general,  but  he  is  not  a  man  of  detail.  He 
has  a  remarkable  memory,  one  that  astonishes  me  at 
times.  He  accomplishes  his  purpose  more  by  the 
honesty  of  his  views  and  by  convincing  those  he 
comes  in  contact  with  of  his  sincerity  than  by  suavity 
of  manner,  for  he  has  not  a  gifted  tongue.  He  is  a 
man  of  rare  reflective  power  and  wonderful  concen 
tration,  and  after  he  has  made  up  his  mind  to  do  a 


LELAXD   STANFORD.  341 


thing  and  it  is  right  it  is  difficult  for  him  to  see  why 
it  is  not  performed  and  accomplished.  His  far 
sightedness  grows  out  of  his  reflective  faculties. 

"  He  is  a  good  judge  of  men  that  he  never  had 
any  particular  relations  with.  He  is  a  good  judge  of 
new  men.  To  those  who  stand  close  to  him  he  would 
be  inclined  to  err,  if  err  at  all,  on  the  side  of  charity 
for  their  shortcomings.  His  cloak  of  charity  is  larger 
than  that  of  any  man  I  ever  knew,  and  he  will  only 
revenge  himself  upon  an  enemy  or  those  who  have 
wronged  him,  by  heaping  coals  of  fire  upon  them. 
His  friendship  for  friends  as  friends  is  unsurpassed. 

"  He  is  an  exceedingly  just  man,  and  at  the  same 
time  a  very  generous  one.  His  tenacity  of  purpose 
is  remarkable.  He  never  stops  in  the  pursuit  of 
what  he  believes  to  be  right  until  it  is  accomplished, 
or  until  he  is  entirely  satisfied  it  is  not  attainable.  It 
would  be  very  difficult  to  coerce  him.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  coax  him.  If  moved  at  all  it  must  be  by 
sound  and  substantial  reason,  by  logic.  He  accepts 
no  man's  reasons  and  yet  accepts  all  men's  opinions. 
His  broad  charity  for  mankind  is  such  he  could  not 
do  otherwise  than  respect  the  views  and  opinions  of 
everybody.  But  there  must  be  sound  excuse  for  the 
acceptance  of  their  reasons,  for  he  would  not  adopt 
them  out  of  respect  to  the  individual.  He  thinks  for 
himself. 

"  With  the  greatest  of  ease  he  can  turn  from  one 
matter  to  another ;  not  frivolously,  but  comprehen 
sively.  That  is  where  his  great  labor  of  mind  has 
been  underestimated.  He  works  when  other  men  are 
playing.  His  mind  is  constantly  at  work.  He  has 
more  scope,  covers  a  broader  field  of  thought,  never 
forgetting  anything  and  thinking  logically  upon  all 
propositions,  so  that  wThen  he  is  making  speed  he 
seems  to  be  standing  still.  He  has  been  frequently 
underestimated  in  this  particular,  I  think,  and  by 
those  who  ought  to  know  him  the  best. 

"  In  his  travels  at  home  and  abroad  he  has  arrived 


342  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

at  just  and  comprehensive  conclusions  regarding  the 
territory  he  has  seen.  He  has  to-day  a  better  knowl 
edge  than  most  men  of  the  affairs  of  Europe,  the 
capabilities,  both  neglected  and  cultivated,  of  the 
different  countries  and  different  forms  of  government. 
This  is  naturally  the  result  of  his  powers  of  observa 
tion,  though  when  abroad  it  was  for  the  recuperation 
of  his  own  health  and  that  of  his  family.  Yet  he 
absorbed  more  and  got  a  better  idea  of  the  political 
and  physical  conditions  of  foreign  countries  than 
almost  any  American  who  has  ever  been  abroad  for 
the  same  length  of  time." 

In  religion  Mr  Stanford  is  not  a  sentimentalist,  and 
yet  his  nature  is  essentially  reverential.  While  not  a 
sectarian  and  not  overstrict  in  religious  observances, 
he  is  and  has  ever  been  a  perfectly  moral  man,  carry 
ing  into  his  daily  life  and  into  the  smallest  things  of 
life  the  principles  ingrafted  on  his  deep  and  earnest 
character.  In  the  deed  of  the  foundation  of  the  uni 
versity  is  a  clause  which  requires  the  trustees  "  to 
prohibit  sectarian  instruction,  but  to  cause  to  be 
taught  in  the  university  the  doctrine  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  and  existence  and  power  of  the  all-wise  arid 
benevolent  creator,  and  the  truth  that  obedience  to 
his  laws  is  the  highest  duty  to  man."  Again  he  says, 
"  The  object  of  this  institution  is  not  alone  to  give 
the  student  a  technical  education,  fitting;  him  for  sue- 

O 

cessful  business  life,  but  it  is  also  to  instil  into  his 
mind  an  appreciation  of  the  blessings  of  this  govern 
ment  and  reverence  for  its  institutions  and  a  love  for 
God  and  humanity,  by  precept  and  example  spread 
the  great  truths  by  the  light  of  which  his  fellow-man 
will  be  elevated  and  taught  how  to  attain  happiness  in 
this  world  and  in  the  life  eternal." 

Up  to  seventeen  years  of  age  Mr  Stanford  was 
orthodox  according  to  the  tenets  of  the  presbyteriari 
church.  Then,  while  at  school,  he  studied  Hotchkiss' 
geology,  which  endeavors  to  harmonize  geology  with 
the  Mosaic  account  of  creation,  This  for  the  first 


LELAND   STANFORD.  343 

time  directed  his  thoughts  into  independent  channels, 
and  ever  since  he  has  done  his  own  thinking  on  all 
subjects.  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  doubt  for  a  time 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  though  not  seriously  so, 
and  the  consequences  of  every  act  following  us  into 
another  world  ;  but  all  this  passed  away,  the  death 
of  his  boy  ridding  him  of  any  possibly  remaining 
vestige  of  unbelief.  He  has  no  idea  of  a  life  of  inac 
tivity  and  idleness  hereafter ;  there  will  not  only  be 
desires,  but  more  and  better  ones  than  in  this  life. 

Preachers,  he  says,  make  a  great  mistake  in  spending 
their  whole  time  trying  to  fit  people  for  the  future 
state,  to  the  neglect  of  this  world.  Could  they  be  doing 
something  to  make  life  here  better,  happier,  more 
endurable,  they  would  accomplish  a  far  greater  good. 
They  might  take  lessons  from  the  Mormons,  whose 
bishops  look  after  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  affairs, 
advising  with  them  in  their  business,  teaching  them 
how  to  plow,  what  to  sow  and  when  to  reap.  The 
doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  exercised  an  influence 
for  evil  on  the  human  mind  and  heart.  When  you 
make  a  god  out  of  the  cruelest  thing  imaginable  the 
tendency  is  to  make  the  people  cruel ;  or,  if  the  god 
be  kind  and  gentle,  his  votaries  will  be  like  him. 

He  early  freed  himself  from  Calvinism.  During 
the  brief  period  of  his  scepticism  he  never  wholly 
lost  belief  in  a  future  state,  or  entertained  any  fear 
of  passing  into  total  annihilation.  He  is  now  looking 
forward  to  the  reunion  of  his  family  in  the  other 
world,  which  he  is  satisfied  is  a  better  one  than  this 
— a  world  of  activity,  where  people  will  have  full  and 
happy  occupation ;  for  there  must  be  infinitely  more 
happiness  in  an  active  existence  than  in  a  passive  con 
dition  where  there  are  no  desires.  The  quality  of 
happiness  is  intensified  by  action. 

The  patriotism  of  Leland  Stanford  is  self-sacrific 
ing,  devoted  and  pure.  His  thoughts  seem  to  dwell 
upon  the  development  of  the  country  and  the  progress 
and  welfare  of  the  nation.  These  were  often  the 


344  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

topics  in  conversation  ;  and  in  the  deed  of  foundation 
of  the  university  he  declares  it  to  be  one  of  his  chief 
objects  "  to  promote  public  welfare  by  exercising 
influence  on  behalf  of  humanity  and  civilization,  teach 
ing  the  blessings  of  liberty  regulated  by  law,  and 
inculcating  love  and  reverence  for  the  great  principles 
of  government  as  derived  from  the  inalienable  rights 
of  men  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness." 

Some  make  it  a  point,  in  order  to  increase  their 
popularity  or  influence,  never  to  appear  to  refuse  a 
request;  others  do  so  as  seldom  as  possible  from 
inherent  kindness  of  heart.  Some  delight  in  paining 
people,  though  they  would  never  admit  to  themselves 
the  atrocity  of  their  natures ;  to  others  the  infliction 
of  mental  anguish  upon  a  fellow-being  excites  the 
greatest  pain  in  his  own  breast.  The  former  is  the 
result  of  the  unmitigated  selfishness  of  a  naturally 
cruel  heart,  and  more  people  carry  these  feelings  in 
their  breasts  than  are  themselves  aware  of  it.  Ordi 
narily  people  of  a  humane  or  benevolent  disposition 
fail  to  understand  those  of  an  opposite  nature,  but  in 
this  instance  such  was  not  the  case.  Mr  Stanford 
has  no  more  respect  for  that  affected  bluntness  which 
covers  timidity  than  for  the  fawning  flattery  which 
covers  hypocrisy. 

A  fitting  companion  and  consort  of  such  a  man  in 
every  way  is  Jane  Lathrop,  who  married  Leland 
Stanford  when  he  was  twenty-six  years  of  age.  Supe 
riority  of  mind  unite  in  her  with  all  the  matronly 
virtues,  a  shining  current  of  domestic  purity  and 
happiness  running  through  the  whole  course  of  her 
life.  With  simple  tastes  and  tender  sensibilities,  she 
presents  a  queenly  aspect,  and  a  mind  endowed  with 
an  exalted  sense  of  the  duties  of  her  high  social  posi 
tion.  In  her  character  and  daily  life  are  a  perpetual 
charm  and  beauty  which  belong  alone  to  the  true 
nobility  of  womanhood. 

The  life  of  Mrs  Stanford  cannot  be  considered  apart 
from  that  of  her  husband.  There  were  ever  the  clos- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  345 

est  relations  existing  between  them.  He  advised  with 
her  in  whatever  he  did,  and  she  sympathized  with  him 
in  everything.  Affectionate  in  her  disposition  and 
warmly  attached  to  her  friends,  she  possesses  remark 
ably  good  common  sense,  being  decided  in  character 
and  of  strong  convictions,  in  religion  as  in  everything 
else,  though  by  no  means  bigoted  or  strongly  secta 
rian.  She  has  no  doubt  of  the  immortality  of  the 
soul ;  that  there  is  another  world  better  than  this, 
and  that  God  never  intended  death  as  a  punish 
ment.  In  many  respects  she  is  a  remarkable  charac 
ter.  Few  know  her,  some  thinking  that  time  hangs 
heavily  on  her  hands.  This  shows  that  they  know 
little  of  her,  of  her  active  sympathies,  her  often 
laborious  charities,  running  all  the  way  from  profes 
sional  beggars  up  to  the  fifteen  kindergartens  which 
she  supports,  seeing  that  they  are  supplied  with  teach 
ers,  and  keeping  the  accounts  of  the  money  employed 
for  the  purpose.  She  is  endowed  with  great  capabil 
ities,  and  seldom  has  she  an  idle  moment.  "  I  had 
no  idea  Mrs  Stanford  was  such  a  business  woman," 
her  husband  was  once  heard  to  remark ;  but  such  a 
wife  could  not  long  enjoy  the  society  of  such  a  hus 
band  without  decided  results. 

And  we  have  also  seen  that  Leland  Stanford 
junior  was  a  youth  of  no  ordinary  promise.  He  was 
endowed  with  a  superior  nature  ;  his  thoughts  were 
pure,  his  aspirations  lofty,  his  actions  right  and  hon 
orable.  In  him  seemed  to  be  united  some  of  the  finer 
qualities  of  mind  and  heart  of  both  parents — the 
tender  sensibilities  and  warm  emotions  of  the  mother, 
and  the  elasticity  of  intellect,  philosophy  and  broad 
philanthropy  which  characterized  the  father.  Had 
he  lived,  being  thus  sired  and  circumstanced,  with  all 
his  high  heritage,  possessing  all  that  heaven  and  earth 
could  bestow,  the  vast  wealth  and  power  which  would 
have  fallen  to  him  being  all  inferior  to  his  superlative 
mental  and  moral  attributes,  what  human  and  divine 
possibilities  were  here  I 


346  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

Reluctantly  I  take  my  leave  of  this  central  figure 
in  the  group  of  railroad  builders,  of  whom  only  two 
are  now  living,  each  having  performed  the  part  alot- 
ted  to  him  with  consummate  ability. 

The  central  figure  also  in  a  multitude  of  patriots, 
anxious  for  the  welfare  and  integrity  of  the  state, 
which  trembled  on  the  verge  of  secession,  and  while 
men  were  arming  and  dividing,  feeling  running  high, 
each  as  a  rule  giving  allegiance  in  the  civil  strife  to 
the  side  on  which  he  was  born,  as  governor  of  the 
state  and  chief  of  a  great  political  party  which  he  had 
here  planted,  he  held  in  equipoise  the  interests  of  the 
commonwealth,  when  one  imprudent  act  would  have 
lost  all,  dealing  out  justice  with  an  even  hand,  and 
with  good  sense  and  calm  judgment,  so  allaying  the 
passions  of  men  as  to  prevent  what  would  have  been 
the  most  horrible  episode  of  the  war,  the  sons  of  the 
north  and  of  the  south  in  close  conflict  pouring  out 
their  blood  on  the  soil  of  California,  all  fighting  for 
their  altars  and  firesides,  and  for  what  they  deemed 
the  right. 

The  central  figure  among  the  statesmen  of  Califor 
nia,  deemed  best  capable  of  representing  the  state  in 
the  senate  of  the  United  States,  and  the  enthusiastic 
choice  not  only  of  legislators  but  of  the  entire  people. 

A  central  figure  among  the  benefactors  of  the 
human  race,  dedicating,  after  making  some  allowances 
to  relatives  and  friends,  all  that  he  had  for  the  found 
ing  of  an  institution  designed  to  shed  blessings  and 
happiness  upon  the  people  of  this  land  throughout 
all  time. 

It  is  the  destiny  of  but  few  men  to  achieve  the 
impossible — that  which  others  deem  impossible.  Had 
those  who  first  drove  wagons  across  the  Sierra 
Nevada,  letting  them  down  declivities  by  ropes,  been 
told  that  steam  locomotives  would  one  day  be  scaling 
those  heights,  they  would  as  quickly  have  believed  it 
as  that  people  would  talk  with  one  another  forty 
miles  apart,  or  that  motive  power  would  be  generated 


LELAND  STANFORD.  347 

by  heat  arising  from  an  artificial  concentration  of  the 
sun's  rays. 

This  one  superlative  example  will  carry  its  influ 
ence  throughout  all  time,  quickening  the  pulse  of 
ambitious  youth,  and  rousing  strong  men  to  yet  more 
determined  action.  One  feature  of  character  stands 
preeminently  conspicuous  all  through  his  active  and 
eventful  life.  Whether  amidst  contending  political 
factions,  in  the  heat  of  commercial  competition, 
opposed  by  jealous  rivals  or  calumniated  by  defeated 
foes — amid  all  the  conflicting  interests  and  emotions 
by  which  at  various  times  he  found  himself  sur 
rounded — he  ever  maintained  a  superb  moral  calm, 
emerging  upon  a  high  plane  of  principle  on  every 
such  occasion  without  rancor,  without  feelings  of  bit 
terness  toward  any,  and  with  no  desire  whatever  for 
retaliation  or  revenge. 

It  is  what  we  leave  undone,  no  less  than  what  we 
do,  that  merits  praise.  There  are  times  when  a  mas 
terly  inaction  may  border  on  the  heroic. 

There  are  natures  born  at  full  stature ;  other 
natures  have  in  them  the  element  of  expansion.  Leland 
Stanford  is  of  the  latter  category.  He  has  always 
been  a  growing  character.  From  the  first  he  has 
every  day  increased  in  moral  and  intellectual  strength, 
and  would  continue  so  to  increase  were  he  to  live  a 
thousand  years. 

On  entering  for  the  first  time  a  city  or  country  the 
mind  of  the  stranger  naturally  turns  to  the  origin  of 
the  advancement  made,  who  were  the  men  that  accom 
plished  what  has  been  done,  how  they  did  it,  and  when. 
To  ascertain  facts  in  such  premises  men  travel  over  the 
world,  read  history,  and  hold  converse  with  the  learned 
and  intelligent.  It  is  the  higher  education,  if  it  be 
done  for  improvement  and  praiseworthy  purposes,  and 
not  from  idle  curiosity  alone.  We  go  far  to  see  a 
great  man  ;  we  strive  hard  to  imitate  him,  to  cultivate 
what  we  believe  to  be  those  superior  qualifications 
which  rendered  him  conspicuous  among  his  feUows. 


348  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

The  search  for  the  good  and  useful  in  man  is  like 
the  study  of  the  true  and  beautiful  in  art.  Both  are 
primary  factors  in  education,  the  one  ranking  among 
the  utilities,  the  other  being  found  in  the  category  of 
the  sesthetical.  Our  study  of  humanity  begins  with 
a  search  through  history  for  the  world's  great  men ; 
those  who  have  accomplished  something  in  one  direc 
tion  or  another.  Of  these  youth  dreams  and  man 
hood  meditates,  and  in  some  degree  to  copy  their 
good  qualities  and  avoid  their  mistakes  becomes  the 
aim  of  noble  minds. 

The  possessor  of  superior  mental  and  moral  force 
cannot  live  in  a  community  without  exercising  in  it  a 
commensurate  influence  for  good.  The  beneficial  radi 
ates  from  his  presence  whether  he  wills  it  or  not,  just 
as  the  sun  throws  its  radiance  over  the  otherwise 
darkened  earth.  We,  none  of  us,  can  think  a  higher 
thought  than  usual,  or  entertain  a  purer  aspiration 
than  usual ;  we  cannot  even  come  in  contact  with 
those  who  do  so  without  being  made  the  better 
thereby. 

Although  in  the  progress  of  human  development 
evil  influences  are  apparently  as  influential  factors  as 
those  which  are  commonly  regarded  as  more  purely 
beneficial ;  yet,  fortunately,  the  good  alone  remains, 
the  evil  being  winnowed  away  and  burned.  In  all 
nature  it  is  the  excellent  which  grows  ;  it  is  the  true 
and  beautiful  and  strong  that  is  fittest  to  survive.  If 
this  were  not  so,  we  should  have  no  great  men  for 
our  models,  nor  gods  for  our  guidance. 

In  the  simple  contemplation  of  a  commanding  intel 
lect  we  derive  somewhat  of  the  same  benefit  that 
pious  people  obtain  in  their  high  and  holy  medita 
tions  ;  humanity  is  so  constructed  that  the  entire 
moral  and  intellectual  being  enlarges  and  improves 
in  the  association  with  superior  minds,  even  in  thought 
or  imagination.  The  mind  absorbs  from  the  intellec 
tual  influences  around  it,  as  the  body  absorbs  for  its 
use  the  raw  material  in  nature.  One  of  the  strong- 


LELAND  STANFORD.  349 

est  and  subtlest  of  the  influential  processes  by  which 
dominating  minds  bring  people  under  their  sway 
springs  from  that  quality  in  our  nature  which  forces 
upon  us  the  thoughts  and  opinions  of  those  with  whom 
we  come  in  contact. 

For  the  work  that  he  has  done,  and  for  that  which 
he  is  yet  to  accomplish,  the  world  will  in  due  time 
assign  to  Leland  Stantord  the  rank  which  his  merits 
deserve  among  the  railroad  kings,  the  statesmen,  the 
philanthropists  of  his  age.  And  few  there  are  to 
whom,  even  in  his  lowest  capacity,  as  a  creator  of 
wealth,  so  high  a  rank  should  be  conceded ;  since  for 
every  million  that  he  has  himself  accumulated,  he  has 
added  at  least  a  score  of  millions  to  the  value  of 
other  men's  estates.  Nor  has  he  retained  his  mil 
lions  until  the  time  of  his  decease,  then  to  be  dis 
tributed  in  such  charitable  bequests  as  might  serve 
as  an  apology  for  a  selfish  life.  While  yet  in  the  full 
vigor  of  manhood,  and  in  the  perfect  command  of  all 
his  faculties,  he  is  already  attending  to  the  disposition 
of  his  ample  fortune  in  what  he  deems  the  most 
fitting  expression  of  the  good-will  he  bears  to  his 
fellow-man. 

"  If  you  seek  for  my  monument  look  around  you," 
is  literally  translated,  the  inscription  in  Latin  on  the 
plain  marble  slab  which  marks  in  the  great  cathedral 
of  which  he  was  the  artificer,  the  resting  place  of  Sir 
Christopher  Wren.  And  to  our  railroad  artificer  this 
epitaph  would  be  no  less  appropriate,  not  only  for  the 
marvellous  achievement  which  has  linked  in  bands  of 
iron  the  shores  of  earth's  fairest  continent,  but  for  his 
efforts  toward  the  industrial  development  of  the 
state,  for  his  farms  and  vineyards,  his  grain-fields  and 
his  orchards,  and  above  all  for  the  noble  institution 
of  learning  which,  with  each  returning  year,  shall  be 
more  fully  appreciated,  shedding  broadcast  its  benign 
and  exalting  influences  on  those  now  living,  and  on 
future  generations  to  the  end  of  time.  This  it  is  to 
be  immortal  in  this  world  as  well  as  in  other  worlds. 


CHAPTER   III. 

LIFE   OF  GEORGE  HEARST. 

THE  CALIFORNIA  PIONEERS — PARENTAGE,  BOYHOOD,  AND  EDUCATION— LEAD- 
MINING  IN  MISSOURI — JOURNEY  TO  CALIFORNIA — EARLY  EXPERIENCE — 
ON  THE  COMSTOCK — REMARKS  ON  STOCK  SPECULATION— TlIE  ONTARIO 
MINE- — THE  BLACK  HILLS  MINE  — THE  ANACONDA  —  OTHER  MINING 
VENTURES — THE  "EXAMINER"— WILLIAM  HEARST — IN  THE  SENATE — 
SPEECHES  AND  VIEWS — MRS  HEARST — REVIEW  OF  CHARACTKR  AND 
CAREER. 

As  a  rule,  our  California  pioneers  were  young, 
energetic,  and  vigorous — a  natural  selection  of  supe 
rior  men  for  a  special  purpose.  A  new  order  of 
industrial  and  social  conditions  was  to  occur  in  which 
they  were  to  be  the  factors.  Their  fitness  for  such  a 
career  was  in  a  measure  displayed  by  the  very  fact  of 
their  pioneership,  for  it  required  self-assertion,  enter 
prise,  and  ambition  to  cut  loose  from  home  associa 
tions  and  make  so  radical  a  change  in  their  habits  and 

o 

mode  of  life.  The  journey  to  California,  whether 
by  the  Isthmus  or  across  the  plains,  with  its  attendant 
difficulties  and  dangers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  expense 
of  the  same,  was  such  as  to  limit  early  immigration  to 
a  comparatively  few,  considering  the  large  sources  of 
population  drawn  upon.  The  eastern  states  and 
Europe,  to  some  extent,  contributed  to  the  westward 
movement  the  very  best  elements  of  its  more  youth 
ful,  active,  and  intelligent  manhood.  As  though  so 
ordered  in  the  economy  of  nature,  the  time  had 
arrived  in  which  a  new  empire  was  to  be  built,  and 
they  were  selected  to  build  it.  It  is  not  to  be  denied 

(350) 


GEORGE  HEARST.  351 

that  the  first  impetus  toward  the  forming  of  a  new 
civilization  on  these  western  shores,  as  well  as  much 
of  the  foundation  work  of  that  civilization,  must  be 
credited  to  the  pioneers  as  a  body.  For  their  mani 
festation  of  the  qualities  which  characterize  men  of 
dominating  spirit,  it  is  just  and  agreeable  to  accord 
them  credit  and  distinction  collectively.  But  there 
are  chiefs  among  chiefs.  If  in  the  first  instance  the 
early  pioneers  of  California  were  a  selection,  it  is  also 
true  that  another  and  final  selection  was  to  take 
place  among  themselves.  I  do  not  know  of  a  more 
strikin^  illustration  of  that  natural  law,  the  survival 

o 

of  the  fittest,  than  that  which  has  been  furnished  in 
the  history  of  California  during  the  last  forty  years. 
For  while  many  have  lived  and  worked  so  as  to 
commend  themselves,  only  a  limited  number  have  dis 
played  the  force  of  character  which  is  capable  of  long- 
sustained  effort,  the  force  which  distinguishes  those 
who  are  not  only  able  to  control  others,  but  who  also 
retain  throughout  all  vicissitudes,  temptations,  and 
demoralizing  influences  the  mastery  of  themselves. 
Such  men  are  rare  in  any  country,  during  any  epoch. 
They  stand  out  in  bolder  outline,  larger,  more  strik 
ing  than  others,  each  idealizing  in  his  individuality 
the  individualities  of  a  certain  class,  expressing  in 
their  lives  and  work  at  once  the  sum  of  the  achieve 
ments  and  intellectuality  of  the  community  of  which 
they  are  a  part. 

The  industries  of  the  Pacific  coast,  varied  already, 
are  rapidly  growing  more  diversified  as  its  resources 
and  capabilities  become  better  known  and  appre 
ciated  ;  but  the  birth  of  that  magnificent  domain, 
considered  as  a  part  of  the  great  world  of  commerce 
and  society,  is  due  to  mining.  For  years  every  other 
industry  was  dependent  upon  and  incidental  to  it. 
The  energy  of  the  singularly  well  adapted  men  who 
migrated  to  California  in  quest  of  fortune,  applied  to 
the  development  of  its  mineral  resources,  laid  a  deep 
and  permanent  foundation  upon  which  a  multiform 


352  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

superstructure  was  to  be  reared.  More  than  this, 
mining  has  not  only  furnished  the  basis  of  develop 
ment,  in  whatever  shape,  but  it  has  been  a  notable 
part  of  that  development.  For  a  period  the  history 
of  California  was  almost  exclusively  that  of  a  mining 
community,  while  at  no  time  since  1849  has  mining 
failed  to  play  an  important  part  in  the  annals  of  the 
state.  A  complete  picture  of  mines  and  mining  in 
California,  Nevada,  and  elsewhere  in  the  mineral 
regions  throughout  western  North  America,  por 
traying  the  lives  of  those  who  devoted  themselves 
altogether  to  that  industry,  affords  a  view  of  humanity 
under  conditions  most  unique  and  picturesque.  The 
lessons  thus  perpetuated  are  priceless  as  a  study, 
economically,  morally,  politically,  and  socially. 
Though  I  recognize  the  inadequacy  of  any  effort 
of  mine  to  accomplish  fully  so  comprehensive  and 
delicate  a  task,  yet  it  is  a  step  in  that  direction  if 
the  chief  figures  in  the  industrial  drama  can  be 
fairly  made  known  to  the  world  as  exponents  of 
the  times  in  which  they  have  played  a  leading  part. 
One  of  the  principal  representatives  of  mining  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  especially  of  that  phase  of  mining  which 
is  termed  legitimate,  forms  the  subject  of  the  present 
study. 

It  is  proposed  to  inquire  into  the  life  and  character 
of  an  acknowledged  chieftain  among  the  great  miners 
in  the  territory  covered  by  my  history,  partly  because 
of  this  distinctive  feature  of  his  career,  but  not 
altogether  for  that  reason.  It  is  true  that  the  records 
of  some  of  the  largest  mining  enterprises  in  the  world 
belong  to  his  history;  but  he  has  had  more  than  a 
miner's  experience.  His  general  identification  other 
wise  with  California  and  the  great  west,  not  to  men 
tion  his  services  in  the  upper  house  of  the  national 
legislature,  and  above  all  the  individual  himself,  the 
power,  the  force  that  he  has  been  and  is,  inspire  in 
the  real  student  of  human  nature  the  deepest  interest 
in  his  career.  I  speak  of  George  Hearst,  a  man  well 


GEORGE  HEARST.  353 

and  favorably  known  throughout  the  length  and 
breadth  of  the  land  whose  resources  he  has  done  so 
much  to  develop. 

He  was  born  in  Franklin  county,  Missouri,  on 
the  Merrimac  river,  about  forty  miles  from  St 
Louis,  in  the  year  1820.  It  is  pertinent  to  inquire 
as  to  his  origin,  his  environment,  and  the  condi 
tions  of  his  early  life,  in  order  that  the  man  may 
be  seen  in  the  boy.  Remotely  his  ancestry  were 
Scotch,  early  emigrants  to  the  United  States.  His 
father  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  century 
removed  from  Abbeville  district,  South  Carolina,  to 
Missouri.  His  mother's  people  went  thither  from 
Georgia.  His  relatives  on  both  sides  of  the  house 
were  southern  people,  of  strong  southern  proclivities  ; 
tempered,  however  very  perceptibly  by  their  inherited 
Scotch  conservatism. 

The  Missouri  of  the  time  mentioned  was  a 
wilderness,  and  society  there  was  of  the  crude 
pioneer  sort.  Indians  were  still  numerous,  and  visited 
the  white  settlement  in  considerable  numbers  every 
summer.  The  woods  were  infested  with  animals 
of  prey  and  abounded  in  game.  Farming  and  stock- 
raising  was  the  prevailing  industry.  The  work  of 
an  emigrant  family  was  first  to  clear  away  enough 
ground  for  cultivation  for  the  support  of  the  house 
hold,  and  after  that  to  enlarge  it  as  circumstances 
would  permit.  It  was  in  every  sense  a  struggle 
to  overcome  nature  and  subdue  it  to  man's  neces 
sities.  Labor  was  the  order  of  the  day.  Men 
toiled  in  the  forests  and  in  the  fields,  and  women 
labored  as  of  old  in  the  early  days  of  every  country, 
in  their  sphere  under  the  home  roof.  Children,  from 
the  time  that  they  were  able  to  do  anything, 
applied  themselves  to  whatever  was  suited  to  their 
strength  and  intelligence. 

The  first  duty  assigned  to  George,  when  yet  a  mere 
child,  was  the  charge  of  the  poultry,  which  must  be 
carefully  housed  and  locked  up  at  twilight  against 

C.  B.-II.    23 


354  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

the  certain  incursion  of  wolves  and  other  animals. 
The  geese,  which  were  raised  principally  for  the 
feathers  out  of  which  beds  were  made,  were  his 
special  trust.  As  he  expresses  it,  he  had  lots  to  do. 
At  night  on  the  wide  hearth  in  front  of  a  huge  wood 
fire,  with  no  other  light  than  that  of  the  flames  or 
an  occasional  tallow  candle,  it  was  part  of  his  work 
to  beat  out  flax  and  cotton  seed.  There  could  be  no 
drone  in  the  hive  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  such  require 
ments,  to  be  idle  was  to  be  pretty  much  out  of  that 
world.  True,  his  father  had  a  few  slaves,  but  their 
master  and  mistress  and  George  were  not  the  less 
active  and  laborious  on  that  account. 

This  is  the  school  of  which  rather  an  intimation 
than  a  description  is  given,  in  which  he  took  his  first 
lessons  and  got  his  first  discipline,  a  discipline  com 
porting  with  his  own  nature  but  which  has  influenced 
all  his  future  career.  That  he  has  risen  to  a  solid  and 
conspicuous  place  among  men,  that  he  has  succeeded 
in  the  battle  of  life  in  the  eminent  manner  noted,  is 
largely  accounted  for  by  the  impulse  thus  derived 
from  the  experience  of  his  childhood. 

All  history  serves  to  illustrate  and  enforce  the  truth 
that  a  man  perfects  himself  by  work  rather  than  by 
reading — that  it  is  life  rather  than  literature,  action 
rather  than  study,  application  rather  than  theory, 
character  rather  than  reputation,  to  which  we  must 
look  for  the  perpetual  renovation  of  mankind.  Daily 
experience  shows  that  it  is  energetic  individualism 
which  produces  the  most  powerful  effect  upon  the  life 
and  action  of  others,  and  really  constitutes  the  best 
practical  education.  Schools,  academies,  and  colleges 
give  but  the  merest  beginnings  of  culture  in  comparison 
with  this.  In  the  actual  exercises  of  our  nature  we 
get  that  finishing  instruction  which  Schiller  designates 
as  the  education  of  the  human  race,  consisting  in 
action,  self-culture,  self-control,  all  that  tends  to  dis 
cipline  a  man  truly,  and  fit  him  for  the  practical  per 
formance  of  the  duties  and  business  of  life — a  kind  of 


GEORGE  HEARST.  355 

education  not  to  be  learned  from  books  or  acquired  by 
any  amount  of  literary  training. 

Great  men  come  from  one  sphere  of  life  just  about 
as  readily  as  from  another.  The  college  furnishes  to 
some  the  opportunity  of  proper  development,  but  it 
really  cripples  as  many  as  it  perfects.  The  workshop 
engenders  greatness,  the  farm  above  all  is  the  school 
from  which  men  graduate  strong,  fresh,  elastic,  and 
vigorous.  Passing  out  thence  strong  in  the  strength 
of  full  personality,  farmers'  sons,  possessing  untried 
ability  but  earnest  in  purpose,  come  into  the  great 
cities,  bringing  with  them  the  tonic  of  unhampered  and 
self-assertive  individuality.  Leaders  of  men  are  not 
the  product  of  rank  or  caste.  Endowed  with  original 
force,  and  placed  in  an  environment  adapted  to  the 
symmetrical  development  of  their  parts,  the  humblest 
and  poorest  in  station  will  rise  to  eminence  and  domi 
nation  by  virtue  of  that  force  and  aggressiveness  in 
them  which  is  continually  needed  to  maintain  and 
promote  our  civilization,  the  constant  tendency  of 
which  is  to  go  backwards  for  the  want  of  recreating 
qualities  or  traits  in  the  majority  of  the  community. 
In  many  instances  the  very  difficulties  encountered 
seem  to  be  our  best  helpers,  evoking  capabilities  of 
labor  and  endurance,  and  stimulating  faculties  which 
might  otherwise  ever  remain  dormant. 

It  is  fortunate  for  George  Hearst  that  his  nursery 
was  that  of  the  farm-house  on  the  Merrimac  river. 
Fortunate  for  others  that  the  inherent  strength  pos 
sessed  by  him  was  exercised  in  the  gymnasium  of  a 
farm  in  the  wilderness,  such  as  was  his  father's. 
There  is  so  much  of  conventionality,  so  great  a  dis 
position,  even  in  this  our  own  country  of  democratic 
institutions,  to  judge  a  man  by  standards  which  refer 
less  to  the  actual  merits  of  the  citizen  than  to  the 
superficial  criteria  of  social  and  educational  precedents. 

George  Hearst  began  life  with  sterling  qualities 
inherited.  His  father  was  a  man  typically  adapted 
for  the  requirements  of  pioneer  life.  Strong,  active, 


356  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

and  brave,  he  was  a  man  who  could  make  or  mend, 
intelligent  and  sound  in  his  judgment.  If  he  had 
perhaps  an  inclination  to  right  his  wrongs  directly  by 
personal  encounter,  he  should  not  be  criticised  too 
severely  for  that,  because  in  the  crude  society  in  which 
he  found  himself  in  the  Missouri  wilderness,  every 
man  was  pretty  much  a  law  unto  himself.  Possess 
ing  enormous  strength  and  activity,  however,  and  an 
utterly  fearless  spirit,  he  was  not  often  invited  to 
establish  his  rights  in  the  old  primitive  way,  but,  if 
so,  his  adversary  never  had  to  wait  for  him.  Of 
earnest  and  warm  temperament  he  was  loyal  to  his 
friends,  upright  and  straightforward,  prizing  the 
morality  of  scripture,  and  leaning  somewhat  toward 
the  presbyterian  faith.  Being  a  man  of  such  caliber 
and  disposition,  he  naturally  exercised  much  influence ; 
his  was  the  best  farm,  and  he  had  the  best  of  every 
thing  in  his  neighborhood.  He  was  in  advance  of  the 
rest  of  the  people  in  his  locality,  and  being  a  pro 
gressive  man,  kept  in  advance  of  them  up  to  the  time 
of  his  death.  He  was  large  hearted  and  generous, 
and  to  his  neighbors  he  gave  away  much,  and  often 
to  his  own  detriment. 

George's  mother,  whose  leading  traits  of  character 
are  largely  reproduced  in  him,  was  a  remarkable 
woman.  In  person  she  was  tall  and  slight,  and  dignified 
in  manner  and  carriage.  She  was  educated  beyond 
the  culture  of  her  day  and  neighborhood,  and  was  a 
student  thoughtful  and  observing  at  all  times.  She 
was  a  woman  of  pronounced  and  earnest  religious  senti 
ment,  yet  withal  reasonable  and  liberal.  She  took  a 
cheerful  view  of  humanity,  and  was  not  exasperated 
with  what  seems  to  harsh  and  critical  people  to  be  an 
evidence  that  the  world  is  out  of  joint.  With  children 
she  sympathized  especially,  regarding  their  mischief  as 
rather  an  expression  of  their  nature,  and  hence  not 
to  be  punished  too  severely,  if  at  all,  The  extent  of 
her  disposition  to  punish  George  was  confined  to  her 
cornin^  towards  him  once  with  a  little  switch  in  her 

D 


GEORGE  HEARST.  357 

hands ;  but  she  never  meant  to  use  ifc.  With  the  iron 
rule,  spare  the  rod  and  spoil  the  child,  she  had  no 
patience.  Her  discipline  was  sympathy  ;  the  affection 
binding  mother  to  son  and  son  to  mother  was  so  great 
that  this  little  episode  was  the  first  and  last  shadow 
of  corporal  punishment  that  ever  fell  between  the 
two.  She  possessed  admirable  self-control,  was  kind, 
deliberate,  and  wise  ;  her  counsel  was  the  gift  of  new 
life  to  those  in  perplexity  and  trouble.  She  was  not 
given  to  much  talking,  but  when  she  spoke  her  words 
went  to  the  point;  and  as  she  spoke  without  frivolity 
or  passion,  and  rarely  at  all  unless  there  was  a  pur 
pose  in  her  words,  the  mistakes  she  made,  if  any,  were 
very  few.  Remarkably  clear  in  judgment,  she  pos 
sessed  unusual  executive  ability. 

Her  dignity  and  reserve  were  united  with  an  even 
temper  and  cheerful  face.  Her  charity  and  kindness 
were  ample  and  tender.  Her  slaves  were  devoted  to 
her,  for  which  there  is  no  wonder.  A  little  negro 
baby  whose  mother  died,  she  brought  into  her  own 
room,  gave  it  a  cradle  beside  that  of  her  own  child, 
and  reared  it  with  the  tenderness  of  genuine  womanly 
nature,  which  is  above  all  prejudice  of  race  or 
institution. 

In  her  religious  views,  though  a  methodist,  she  was 
quite  broad.  She  did  not  desire  to  force  her  children 
into  the  church,  as  many  mothers,  especially  at  that 
time,  were  disposed  to  do.  She  seemed  really  to  be 
living  many  years  in  advance  of  her  times  and  her 
surroundings. 

It  is  not  difficult,  having  this  view  of  George's 
mother  in  mind,  to  see  her  in  him.  His  nature  like 
hers  is  essentially  kind,  sympathetic,  charitable,  and 
affectionate.  It  is  not  uncommon,  however,  that 
men  of  the  strongest  individuality  and  most  rugged 
traits  of  character,  tenacious  of  purpose  and  uncom 
promising  in  determination,  are  yet  with  all  their 
strength  as  gentle  as  a  woman.  When  George  had 
himself  become  a  father,  he  once  administered  a  very 


358  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

slight  and  hasty  punishment  to  his  son ;  afterward, 
however,  feeling  that  he  had  outraged  both  himself 
and  the  boy,  he  lost  no  time  in  apologizing  for  the  act. 
It  is  totally  foreign  to  his  nature  to  do  anything 
precipitately ;  he  is  seldom  surprised  or  taken  off  his 
guard  ;  deliberate  and  careful  in  speaking,  he  is  not 
apt  to  talk  at  great  length  on  any  subject.  Things 
which  he  discusses  freely,  you  may  be  sure  are 
things  with  which  he  is  familiar ;  so  that  when  he 
has  spoken,  his  words  being  weighed  and  measured, 
will  not  often  be  found  wanting  in  pertinence  or  sub 
stance.  He  is  broad,  unconventional,  unpartisan,  and 
unprejudiced  to  a  great  extent  in  his  views  and 
language.  In  making  up  his  rnind  he  is  perhaps  as 
little  affected  by  mere  clamour  or  popular  whim  and 
prepossession  as  a  man  can  be.  He  does  his  own 
thinking  and  does  it  in  his  own  way,  and  having  made 
up  his  mind  as  to  what  is  the  just  and  proper  policy 
or  course  to  pursue,  he  speaks  and  acts  accordingly, 
with  slight  wish  to  antagonize  others,  yet  with  clear 
ness  and  fearlessness,  with  that  firmness  and  self- 
confidence  which  in  his  mother  made  her  a  wholesome 
and  reliable  friend  and  counselor.  Self-control  and 
reserve  force,  traits  which  distinguish  him,  were 
notably  conspicuous  in  her.  But  as  summing  up  and 
combining  all  these  superior  characteristics,  perhaps 
after  all  the  most  distinctive  and  most  universally 
valuable  of  all  of  his  traits  is  his  great  common 
sense — that  practical  faculty  which  is  the  governor 
of  the  entire  machinery  of  a  man's  intellect.  The 
character  of  parents,  especially  of  the  mother,  are 
thus  constantly  repeated  in  their  children ;  sometimes 
in  such  a  marked  manner  as  to  be  apparent  to  all,  yet 
again  sometimes  in  such  a  manner  as  to  escape  the 
notice  of  the  superficial  observer.  Acts  of  affection 
and  discipline,  industry  and  self-control,  which  parents 
daily  exemplify,  form  an  atmosphere  in  which  children 
live  and  act  when  all  else  that  may  have  been  learned 
by  them  has  long  been  forgotten. 


GEORGE  HEARST.  359 

I  imagine  also  that  in  the  production  of  so  rare  a 
combination  of  the  forces  that  compel  success  and 
regard,  which  forces  combine  to  make  the  man  whose 
life  I  am  endeavoring  to  analyze,  George  Hearst 
drew  upon  his  ancestry  for  remote  generations;  and 
not  only  this  but  that  his  father,  who  was  a  man  of 
marked  individuality,  helped  to  endow  him  and  round 
out  his  extraordinary  character.  He  is  less  aggressive 
than  his  father,  yet  nevertheless  full  of  determination 
to  the  extent  of  carrying  out  what  he  undertakes  to 
the  point  of  its  completion.  His  father  possessed  the 
spirit  of  a  leader,  and  in  order  to  make  himself  the 
leader  he  was  industrious,  energetic,  and  tireless  in 
the  pursuit  of  those  objects  which  bring  power  and 
control.  Who  knows  but  the  mainspring  of  the  son's 
large  ambition  comes  from  the  father  ?  The  latter 
had  but  a  small  field  in  which  to  operate,  and  his 
possibilities  were  limited;  the  sphere  of  the  former 
was  greatly  enlarged,  practically  compassing  the 
world.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  repressed  capabilities 
of  the  father  were  transmitted  and  brought  to  their 
maximum  development  in  the  son. 

With  regard  to  George's  education  at  school  little 
need  be  said.  His  tuition  was  irregular  and  did 

O 

not  extend  altogether  over  four  years.     The  school 

«/ 

was  held  in  a  spare  room  in  the  house  of  some  neigh 
bor,  who  lived  at  a  central  point  in  the  sparsely 
settled  neighborhood ;  or  in  a  separate  log  cabin  when 
there  was  one  to  spare  for  the  purpose.  To  this  semi 
nary  of  learning,  such  as  it  was,  boys  and  girls  came 
from  as  far  as  three  or  four  miles.  This  was  his  begin 
ning  in  books.  Afterward  he  spent  about  eighteen 
months  in  a  better  ordered  and  higher  school,  known 
as  the  American  academy,  two  miles  from  home. 
Study  and  work  went  with  him  hand  in  hand,  and  while 
he  never  had  any  great  purpose  in  life  so  far  as  books 
go,  he  has  lost  no  opportunity  to  get  whatever  infor 
mation  he  could  from  this  source  whenever  available. 
In  his  twentieth  year  he  seized  the  opportunity  of 


360  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

three  or  four  months  extra  study,  but  his  tuition  was 
so  irregular  and  broken  that  he  never  got  beyond  the 
rudiments  of  an  English  education.  He  was  eager 
to  master  whatever  tasks  were  given  him,  and  was 
greatly  worried  if  he  did  not  succeed.  His  teacher 
noted  a  rare  determination  in  him  never  to  leave  any 
task  unrnastered  in  order  to  go  forward  and  take  up 
something  new.  Whatever  he  undertook  he  clung  to 
until  he  made  it  his  own.  In  this  persistent  way,  and 
he  could  riot  work  in  any  other,  he  went  through  his 
arithmetic ;  when  his  teacher  directing  him  to  do  so, 
he  took  home  the  book  and  solved  all  the  test  examples 
which  it  contained;  not  without  considerable  effort, 
however,  for  discarding  the  rules  he  did  all  the  work 
in  his  own  way.  So  thorough  was  his  appreciation 
of  the  principles  of  the  reasoning  involved,  that  no 
process  of  solution  but  his  own  could  satisfy  him ;  once 
having  caught  the  idea,  he  would  not  apply  it 
mechanically  in  any  form  laid  down  by  others,  as 
though  it  were  not  his  own  thinking  if  done  i-n  the 
manner  prescribed  by  any  one  else. 

So  it  has  been  with  him  all  through  life,  whatever 
he  has  had  to  do  he  has  done  after  his  own  peculiar 
fashion.  Nothing  would  be  more  difficult  to  him 
than  to  imitate.  He  cannot  act  a  part.  He  must  be 
himself  or  nothing.  His  thoughts  and  his  expression 
must  be  his  own  by  origin  or  modification,  else  he  is 
not  able  to  entertain  or  utilize  them.  His  individual 
ity  is  such  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  any  one  to 
express  his  thoughts  for  him  as  he  would  express 
them  for  himself.  Left  alone,  he  can  be  counted  upon 
to  get  to  his  destination  by  the  trail  that  he  makes 
for  himself.  This  peculiarity  of  organization  accounts 
very  largely  for  his  retiring  disposition.  Most  people 
grow  by  assimilation  of  what  they  hear  others  say  or 
observe  others  do,  by  the  frequent  exchange  of  ideas 
and  associations ;  but  it  seems  that  his  is  a  mind  of 
the  subjective  sort,  contemplative,  little  influenced  by 
what  others  say  or  do,  producing  for  itself,  taxing 


GEORGE  HEARST.  361 

almost  exclusively  its  own  resources  and  averse  to 
every  sort  of  borrowing  or  adaptation. 

Until  he  grew  to  be  thirty  years  of  age  he  could 
not  make  up  his  mind  that  he  was  as  capable  or  knew 
as  much  as  other  people  about  him.  Concerned  in 
his  own  affairs  and  not  being  disposed  to  overrate  his 
ability  or  knowledge,  he  rather  avoided  prominence, 
and,  if  any  conspicuous  place  was  to  be  filled,  he  pre 
ferred  to  put  others  into  the  lead  and  to  take  a  modest 
place  for  himself.  He  was  a  bright  boy,  not  in  the 
sense  of  picking  up  things  quickly,  but  in  holding  on 
to  whatever  he  began  to  do  until  he  understood  it  and 
could  manage  it.  Not  appearing  to  move  rapidly  he 
was  swift  nevertheless,  for  his  progress  was  thorough. 

His  work  confined  him  to  the  farm  during  the 
spring  and  summer  entirely,  so  that  he  could  go  to 
school  only  in  the  winter,  and  even  then  only  by  per 
forming  such  labor  along  with  his  schooling  as  hard 
working  boys  in  those  days  were  expected  to  do.  His 
father  had  three  farms,  from  which  he  made  a  little 
more  than  expenses  each  year,  always  adding  a  little 
to  his  property  by  careful  management  and  strict 
economy.  When  he  died  he  left  about  six  or  eight 
hundred  acres,  which  was  considered  a  large  tract  in 
those  days,  of  which  a  hundred  and  fifty  acres  were 
under  cultivation.  Farming  implements  were  crude 
at  that  time,  and  consequently  manual  labor  was  much 
greater  and  harder  than  now.  Wheat  was  cut  with 
reaping  hooks. 

During  his  sixteenth  year  George  undertook  the 
management  of  one  of  these  farms,  and,  when  in  his 
twenty-third  year  his  father  died,  the  entire  care 
of  the  estate  fell  upon  him. 

A  short  distance  from  the  farm  on  which  he  was 
born  some  lead  mines  had  been  worked  for  many 
years  by  Frenchmen,  who  were  the  first  settlers, 
mostly  in  Washington  county,  Missouri,  and  had  come 
there  on  account  of  these  mines.  Fifteen  miles  away 
certain  of  these  Frenchmen  had  smelting  works,  in 


362  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

which  they  reduced  the  lead  ores  from  the  mines 
mentioned.  George  made  frequent  trips  to  the  mines 
and  reduction  works,  and  became  quite  familiar  with 
the  methods  employed  to  extract  and  smelt  the  ore, 
which  was  galena,  carrying  from  seventy  to  eighty 
per  cent  lead. 

When  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age,  a  mile  from  his 
father's  house  the  Virginia  mine  was  discovered,  a 
large  rich  deposit  of  galena,  one  of  the  most  valuable 
properties  of  its  kind  in  the  world.  His  ideas  natu 
rally  led  him  into  mining.  Farming  was  a  slow 
business  as  carried  on  at  that  time,  and  afforded 
scarcely  more  than  a  comfortable  living.  He  saw 
money  made  out  of  the  mines,  and  noted  with  satis 
faction  the  facility  with  which  men  engaged  in  mining 
were  acquiring  wealth.  He  became  very  friendly 
with  many  of  them,  and,  while  familiarizing  himself 
with  their  mining  processes,  observed  the  easier  and 
more  elegant  manner  of  their  living  as  compared  with 
that  of  the  farmer.  It  was  under  these  circumstances 
that  George  Hearst  really  began  to  be  a  miner. 

The  mining  that  he  saw  carried  on  was  not  alto 
gether  scientific,  but  it  was  effective  and  practical. 
Having  a  taste  for  the  industry  at  once,  he  was  not 
long  in  making  himself  a  part  of  it.  The  miners 
would  not  wash  out  all  the  rock  taken  from  the  vein, 
and  he  and  other  boys  were  allowed  to  pick  over 
the  banks  of  dirt,  and  would  often  accumulate  galena 
nuggets  during  the  day  to  the  value  of  fifty  or  seventy- 
five  cents.  At  that  time  it  seemed  to  him  that  lead 
mining  in  this  district  was  all  that  it  need  be.  Later 
he  became  a  part  of  a  system  of  mining  in  the  far 
west  which  was  a  great  improvement  on  what  he  had 
witnessed  when  a  boy,  and,  in  fact,  was  superior  to 
any  other  mining  in  the  world ;  but  he  found  that 
Missouri  lead  mines  suited  him  well,  and  certainly  it 
was  a  good  school  for  him  to  take  his  first  lessons  in. 
Nor  did  he  get  information  only.  When  about  twenty 
years  of  age  he  mined  for  himself  in  copper,  and  made 


GEORGE  HEARST.  363 

and  put  aside  some  five  or  six  thousand  dollars.  This 
was  greater  wealth  than  any  farmer  in  the  country 
thereabout  would  amass  in  the  same  length  of  time. 

It  is  a  notable  fact  that  when  gold  was  discovered 
in  California  very  little  was  known  of  the  sort  of  min 
ing  required,  and  that  a  large  majority  of  the  men 
who  went  to  California  to  work  the  placers  had  not 
the  remotest  idea  how  they  were  going  to  do  it.  The 
early  California  miners  got  a  great  deal  of  their  edu 
cation  from  emigrants  from  the  practical  mining  school 
in  which  George  Hearst  obtained  his  first  ideas  on  the 
subject.  The  early  rules  of  mining  in  California  orig 
inated  largely  in  Missouri.  Upon  the  laws  and  cus 
toms  regulating  this  industry  in  the  latter  state  the 
laws  and  customs  in  the  former  were  based.  There 
were  probably  five  or  six  thousand  people  in  the  Mis 
souri  mining  regions  referred  to,  a  great  many  of 
whom  went  to  California,  and  there  not  only  contrib 
uted  their  labor  toward  the  development  of  mining 
in  the  golden  state,  but  carried  with  them  certain 
preliminary  regulations  touching  the  size  of  claims, 
the  manner  of  acquiring  title  to  them,  priority  of 
rights  by  discovery,  subdivisions  of  deposits,  etc., 
without  which  contention  and  delay  would  have 
resulted.  Many  of  these  Missouri  miners  went  very 
early  to  California.  It  is  likely  that  they  contributed 
more  information  and  taught  early  Californians  better 
in  practical  mining  than  any  others  who  went  there. 

When  the  California  fever  broke  out  in  1849  it 
seemed  to  young  Hearst  that  this  was  the  El  Dorado 
for  him,  and  he  would  have  gone  forward  directly  but 
for  the  advice  of  an  old  friend,  an  intelligent  man 
who  was  well  informed  on  the  subject,  and  who  had 
studied  the  matter  carefully. 

"  Don't  go  out  there,"  said  he,  "  The  same  gold 
that  they  are  making  so  much  noise  about  was  dis 
covered  many  years  ago  by  the  Jesuits." 

He  produced  books  and  read  his  authority  for 
this  statement.  George  naturally  thought,  as  this 


364  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

friend  did,  that  there  need  be  no  greater  excitement 
then  than  years  before.  Next  year,  however,  having 
received  more  direct  information  showing  the  fallacy 
of  his  friend's  counsel,  he  made  up  his  mind  that 
he  would  emigrate.  But  the  care  of  the  family,  con 
sisting  then  of  his  mother  and  a  sister,  devolved 
upon  him.  He  was  the  mainstay  and  comfort  of  the 
household.  The  estate  was  encumbered  to  the  extent 
of  its  value  by  security  debts,  which,  through  indul 
gence  to  his  neighbors,  his  father  had  contracted. 
This  incumbrance,  which  George  had  saved  money 
enough  to  pay  off,  was  not  the  greatest  difficulty  he 
had  to  overcome  in  leaving  home. 

He  was  very  devoted  to  his  mother,  and  very  fond 
of  his  sister,  his  only  brother  having  died.  It  was  a 
severe  shock  to  them  to  think  of  his  leaving  them  to 
go  so  far  away  from  home  upon  so  uncertain  a  venture, 
but  Mrs  Hearst,  in  her  wisdom  and  in  her  confidence 
in  her  son,  at  last  resigned  herself  to  it  as  the  best 
thing  for  him  to  do.  His  profits  at  home  were  slight, 
comparatively,  and  she  was  sure  that  where  others 
were  succeeding,  George  would  succeed.  Besides 
this,  his  health,  which  was  impaired  by  malaria,  it 
was  thought  would  be  restored  by  a  change  from  Mis 
souri  to  the  mountains  of  California. 

In  the  spring  of  1850  he  departed.  He  did  not 
leave  alone.  His  mother  and  sister  accompanied  him 
on  horseback  for  two  days.  To  part  from  them  was  a 
great  trial ;  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  his  pride  of  pur 
pose,  he  would  have  been  sorely  tempted  to  renounce 
his  project  and  return  home,  to  live  out  his  life  as  he 
had  begun  it.  Affectionate  as  was  his  nature,  and 
moved  by  the  tears  of  those  nearest  and  dearest  to 
him,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  came  much  nearer 
not  going  to  California  than  he  himself  suspects  or 
admits. 

Thus  it  is  that  a  great  future  and  a  rich  destiny 
may  depend  on  a  slight  but  tender  influence. 


GEORGE  HEARST.  305 

The  details  of  his  long,  wearisome,  and  trying  jour 
ney,  with  slow-going  oxen,  would  furnish  material  for 
an  interesting  chapter.  The  route  across  the  plains  was 
the  trail  selected  by  cholera  and  a  virulent  type  of 
measles  to  travel  on,  during  the  late  spring  and  sum 
mer  of  1850.  Every  mile  a  grave,  and  so  much  help 
less  distress.  A  single  drink  of  brandy  which  he  had 
left  when  the  cholera  seized  him  saved  his  life.  An 
old  man  and  his  wife  who  had  left  all  else  behind 
them,  started  out  with  their  five  stalwart  sons  on  the 
treacherous  plains  for  California  where  with  bright 
hopes  but  for  better  or  worse  the  whole  family  would 
begin  another  life  together,  buried  their  five  boys  at 
Plum  creek,  Nebraska,  and  their  hearts  with  them. 
Then,  with  no  incentive  to  advance,  they  turned 
about,  bewildered,  and  mechanically  retraced  their 
steps ! 

A  great  many  fell  victims  to  disease,  or  were  other 
wise  wrecked  in  crossing  the  plains,  because  of  the 
hurry  and  excitement  which  prevailed,  owing  to  which, 
and  to  the  lack  of  experience  in  making  such  a  jour 
ney,  they  did  not  take  proper  care  of  themselves,  nor 
of  their  stock.  Distressing  accidents  occurred,  whereby 
men  and  women,  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  miles 
away  from  home,  had  to  throw  themselves  upon  the 
mercy  of  others  who  were  hardly  able  to  helt3  them 
selves,  praying  to  be  fed,  or  their  teams  giving  out, 
or  wagons  breaking  down,  to  be  transported  to 
their  destination,  there  being  no  means  to  get  back 
home.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  young  Hearst  that  he 
gave  manful  and  ready  assistance  whenever  he  could 
relieve  those  who  were  distressed.  If  others  were  not 
able  to  see  the  means  to  the  end,  he  would  lead  the 
forlorn  hope,  manage  in  helping  others  to  overcome 
difficulties  that  seemed  insurmountable.  Of  what  he 
had  he  gave  freely  to  those  in  need,  and  never  tired  in 
his  efforts  on  behalf  of  the  unfortunate. 

After  a  terrible  experience  in  crossing  the  sink  of 
the  Carson,  where  some  of  his  oxen  died  of  thirst,  he 


366  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

got  to  water  at  last.  Then  the  great  dangers  and  pri 
vations  of  the  way  were  behind  him.  He  had  borne 
up  bravely  and  well  under  the  trying  experiences  of 
the  trip,  but  at  the  Carson  river  he  succumbed  to  a 
slow  fever,  after  recovering  from  which  he  proceeded 
on  his  way  over  the  Sierra,  but  not  until  he  had 
spent  his  last  hundred  dollars  for  a  hundred  pounds 
of  flour  I 

The  first  place  at  which  he  stopped  in  California 
was  Pleasant  valley,  about  eight  miles  from  what  was 
then  known  as  Hangtown,  a  name  cast  off  many  years 
ago,  and  replaced  by  another  which  if  less  suggestive 
is  not  so  offensive  to  the  ear,  Placerville.  After  he 
had  recuperated  sufficiently  to  work,  being  at  Diamond 
springs,  an  elevation  was  pointed  out  to  him  where 
some  miners  were  washing  out  gold.  This  was  bis 
first  view  of  mining  in  the  new  country.  He  began 
to  work  in  the  placer  diggings,  and  had  the  fortune, 
of  perhaps  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  who  did 
likewise  —  now  with  full  purse,  now  poor.  These 
vicissitudes  were  the  order  of  the  day,  however,  and 
troubled  nobody  particularly. 

His  first  attempt  at  gold  mining  was  at  Jackass 
gulch,  one  of  the  many  suggestive  and  not  always 
euphonious  names  in  devising  which  the  early  Cali- 
fornians  were  apt  and  peculiar.  One  night  when  a 
number  of  miners  were  gathered  about  their  camp- 
fire,  perhaps  exchanging  reminiscences  of  the  states, 
or  discussing  their  various  prospects,  joking  and 
laughing,  the  announcement  that  a  grizzly  bear  was 
moving  upon  them  set  them  all  to  climbing  trees. 
From  their  various  heights  they  kept  emptying  their 
six-shooters  into  the  intruder  until  he  ceased  to  strug 
gle  ;  coming  down  cautiously  thereafter,  they  discov 
ered  that  the  grizzly  was  a  burro  1 

Hearst  continued  placer  mining  with  ups  and 
downs  until  1865,  but  in  the  mean  time  operated  a 
quartz  mill.  He  and  his  associates  discovered  a 
mine  where  others  preceding  them  had  built  a  mill. 


GEORGE  HEARST.  367 

The  ore  from  the  mine,  free  gold  quartz,  was  very 
rich,  and  in  anticipation  of  making  their  stake  at 
once,  they  traded  for  the  mill  and  went  to  work 
with  it.  The  lead  soon  gave  out,  however,  and  they 
were  not  much  better  off  for  their  industry.  The 
snow  was  so  deep  that  no  work  could  be  done,  and  it 
was  next  to  impossible  to  get  about.  This  was  in 
the  severe  winter  of  1852.  The  standard  price  of 
every  commodity  was  a  dollar  a  pound,  except  beef, 
which  was  sixty  cents  a  pound. 

When  Washoe  attracted  the  first  attention,  in 
1859,  he  had  not  made  great  headway  in  the  accumu 
lation  of  wealth.  He  had  made  still  further  attempts 
in  placer  mining,  and  an  additional  experience  in 
operating  a  mill  to  reduce  the  ore  from  the  Lecomp- 
ton  mine,  which  was  a  good  property.  Ascending 
the  Sierra  from  Nevada  county  he  hesitated  at  times 
whether  to  go  forward  across  the  mountains  or  retrace 
his  steps,  so  uncertain  was  everything,  as  he  had  learned 
by  experience,  in  the  nature  of  a  mining  excitement ; 
but  fortunately  for  him, and  for  many  others,it  was  hard 
for  him  to  turn  back  after  he  had  once  fully  deter 
mined  to  go  forward.  I  can  fancy  what  doubt  and 
weighing  of  chances  must  have  occupied  his  mind, 
when  from  the  first  point  of  view  on  the  eastern 
slope  of  the  Sierra  he  looked  across  the  intervening 
valley  of  the  Carson  and  saw  a  few  shanties  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Davidson,  the  site  of  the  largest  silver 
deposit  with  one  or  two  exceptions  in  the  world,  and 
which  has  been  the  scene  of  more  extensive,  more 
costly,  and  more  scientific  appliances  for  the  explora 
tion  and  development  of  a  silver  mine  than  have  ever 
been  known  elsewhere,  and  which  stand  to-day  as 
the  criterion  of  the  utmost  reach  that  men  with 
their  present  information  are  capable  of  doing  in  a 
struggle  with  nature  under  similar  circumstances. 
The  suggestion,  at  the  time  that  he  stood  and  looked 
down  upon  the  future  Comstock,  that  such  results 


368  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

as  this  would  come  out  of  the  pioneer  efforts  of  him 
self  and  his  associates,  would  have  been  entertained 
about,  as  readily  as  that  they  might  find  a  means  of 
conveyance  to  the  moon. 

It  was  all  the  merest  speculation ;  everybody  con 
cerned  in  it  had  to  learn  what  it  was,  very  slowly  at 
first,  largely  by  experiment,  and  I  may  say  not  without 
the  help  of  accident.  But  in  the  course  of  a  few  years 
scientific  zeal  and  the  ingenuity  of  practical  men,  raised 
the  veil  from  the  mystery  of  this  wealth  which  had  often 
to  be  stumbled  over  -and  thrown  aside  before  it  could 
be  known.  Thus  does  nature  guard  her  treasures  of 
precious  metal  or  knowledge,  yielding  them  only 
when  compelled.  Yet  in  this  there  is  no  disparage 
ment  of  those  men  who,  carried  forward  by  impulse, 
instinct,  or  destiny,  held  to  their  purpose  and,  at 
last,  by  persistence,  energy,  and  intelligence  found 
what  they  sought,  and  vastly  more  than  they  ever 
dreamed  of— wrought  out  a  problem  from  conditions 
which  were  new  and  strange,  and  which  were  it  not 
for  the  narrowness  of  all  human  information  I  might 
say  is  not  likely  to  occur  again.  There  has  been  but 
one  Comstock  lode.  Thousands  of  efforts  have  been 
made  to  find  another,  but  while  this  other  may  exist, 
so  vast  and  unparalleled  has  the  first  proved  in  its 
treasure  and  singular  features,  that  it  is  easier  to  rest 
upon  the  thought  that  a  single  continent  is  not  likely 
to  contain  the  duplicate  of  such  a  wonder. 

His  first  visit  to  the  Comstock  extended  over 
about  two  months.  He  saw  enough  to  convince  him 
that  the  prospect  was  a  good  one  to  come  back  to. 
Getting  together  what  money  he  could,  by  selling  out 
his  property  in  California,  he  returned  immediately 
and  purchased  an  interest  in  the  then  unexplored  Ophir 
mine.  The  circumstances  of  the  development  of  the 
earlier  and  later  mines  along  the  lode  are  given  else 
where,  and  need  not  be  discussed  here  at  great 
length.  Suffice  it  to  say,that  Mr. Hearst  and  the  other 
miners  who  went  to  the  Comstock,  did  so  in  search 


GEORGE  HEARST.  369 

of  gold-rock,  and  having  this  in  mind  thought  of 
nothing  else  for  the  time.  The  ore  they  discovered 
was  rich  in  gold  near  the  surface  and  carried  also  a 
black  substance.  This  was  in  their  way  ;  they  tossed 
it  aside.  The  stuff  thus  discarded  was  silver  sul- 
phurets  of  almost  fabulous  richness. 

The  information  coming  to  him  later  that  this  rock 
was  valuable,  he  had  a  piece  of  it  melted  and  sent 
to  an  assay er,  who  stated  that  its  value  was  $1,004, 
in  gold,  not  trying  it  for  silver  at  all — of  which  it 
contained  over  $2,000.  This  was  not  even  suspected. 
A  man  named  Jim  Southwell,  after  taking  several 
drinks,  and  feeling  a  little  exhilarated,  said  to  Hearst, 

"  Do  you  know  what  this  is  ?  " 

"Xo,  I  do  not :  except  I  know  that  it  is  metal." 

"  Come  here,"  said  he,  and  taking  Hearst  aside,  he 
whispered  in  his  ear,  "that  is  silver." 

"  How  do  you  know  ?  " 

All  he  would  answer  was,  '  We  are  all  sure  of  it." 

The  discovery  had  been  made,  and  several  evidently 
were  in  possession  of  the  secret,  but  prospectors 
are  very  often  as  much  disposed  to  discuss  their 
secret  affairs  as  women  are  said  to  be.  The  news 
was  too  good  to  keep. 

Owning  one-sixth  of  the  Ophir  mine,  which  was 
then  divided  into  twelve  parts,  Mr.  Hearst  and  his 
partners  worked  away  until  they  had  out  forty-five 
tons  of  ore.  About  this  rock  various  and  conflicting 
opinions  were  expressed :  some  said  it  was  of  no 
value  ;  others  that  it  was  silver.  Hearst  and  his 
associates  had  faith  in  the  strange  looking  stuff; 
they  felt  sure  there  was  silver  in  it,  but  how  to 
get  the  silver  out  of  it  was  the  question.  Hiring 
mules  they  packed  it  to  Sacramento,  and  shipping 
it  thence  by  steamer  to  San  Francisco,  they  set  to 
work  to  find  somebody  who  could  extract  the  pre 
cious  metal  from  it.  Xone  of  the  local  assayers  or 
mineralogists  would  pay  any  attention  to  them.  An 
Englishman  named  Davis  offered  to  ship  it,  on  com- 
c.  B.— ii.  24 


370  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

mission,  to  Swansea  and  have  it  tested  and,  if  possible, 
reduced  there.  That  seemed  to  the  miners  too  long 
a  story  ;  they  must  have  returns  sooner.  At  last 
they  ran  across  a  German  chemist,  Kustel,  who  said 
he  would  build  a  furnace  and  smelt  the  lot  for  $450 
per  ton.  How  absurb  it  would  be  to-day  to  think  of 
reducing  free-milling  ore  in  a  smelter  or  of  paying 
such  a  price  for  reduction.  The  actual  cost  of  crush 
ing  this  same  character  of  ore,  at  present,  in  the 
mills  on  the  Carson  river,  and  reducing  it  to  bullion 
is  less  than  $5  per  ton  !  Certainly  an  evolution,  not 
to  say  a  revolution,  has  taken  place  in  silver  quartz 
mining  in  the  last  thirty  years.  Had  the  world  moved 
forward  as  rapidly  in  other  respects  as  in  this  one  we 
would  be  living  a  great  many  years  in  advance  of  the 
present.  They  accepted  the  terms  of  the  aforesaid 
German,  who  built  a  furnace  and  smelted  the  rock  as 
agreed,  turning  over  to  them  the  unrefined  bullion 
as  it  came  from  the  smelter.  It  contained  a  great 
deal  of  lead,  and  nearly  everybody  said  it  was  all  lead 
or  mostly  lead  in  combination  with  other  base 
minerals.  It  was  even  said  by  some  :  "  These  fel 
lows  have  got  this  stuff  up  from  Mexico  and  are  on 
some  swindle."  But  they  took  their  bullion  around 
to  the  mint,  and  in  a  day  or  two  the  superintendent 
said  to  them  :  "  Boys,  (that  is  the  name  men  ordi 
narily  passed  under  in  those  days)  come  up  to-night, 
I  will  give  you  some  money."  They  went  up  and 
filled  their  pockets  with  shining  coins,  and  then  going 
back  down  town  some  of  the  party  subjected  them 
to  a  supplementary  and  final  test,  for  skepticism  was 
so  obstinate  that  notwithstanding  the  image  of  the 
goddess  of  liberty  and  the  American  eagle  stamped 
upon  the  metal  by  the  authority  of  the  government, 
its  current  value  must  be  tested  across  the  bar — that 
institution  which  was  so  universal  and  so  potent 
when  California  was  in  her  cups.  The  new  money 
was  approved,  and  accepted  there  and  then ;  the 
Washoe  excitement  began  in  dead  earnest  in  the 


GEORGE  HEARST.  371 

spring  of  1860.  And  the  showing  was  enough  to 
warrant  the  wonderful  hegira  which  at  once  took 
place  ;  for,  although  the  expense  of  transforming 
this  45  ton  lot  of  ore  into  money  was  $42,750,  they 
cleared  out  of  it  about  $80,000.  It  cost  them 
$•22,500  or  25  cents  a  pound  to  freight  it  by  the 
method  of  transportation  already  indicated. 

That  summer  the  war  with  the  Pyramid  lake  Indi 
ans  broke  out,  a  most  unnecessary  and  melancholy 
affair  for  the  white  people  of  central  Nevada.  It 
caused  demoralization  for  a  time  and  entailed  great 
loss  upon  many,  among  whom  was  George  Hearst. 
He  was  forced  thereby  to  dispose  of  a  part  of  his 
interest  in  the  Ophir  mine  and  retired  temporarily  to 
California,  but  later  resumed  operations  on  the  Corn- 
stock,  where  he  continued  until  1866,  known  as  the 
leading  spirit  and  expert  miner  in  that  district.  It 
would  be  safe  to  say  that  no  one  could  judge  the  char 
acter  of  a  mine  nor  develop  it  to  greater  advantage 
than  he.  In  fact,  he  had  no  equal  in  these  respects. 
All  that  was  of  practical  value  to  know  regarding 
minerals  and  mineral  formations,  he  knew.  In  this 
sense  his  perception  is  so  acute  that  it  may  be  said 
of  him,  if  it  can  be  said  of  any  one,  that  he  was  born 
a  mineralogist ;  for,  while  to  most  persons  the  struc 
ture  of  a  mine  and  the  nature  of  its  deposits  are  an 
impenetrable  mystery,  to  him  a  ledge,  its  walls,  the 
country  rock,  and  the  geological  history  of  a  mineral 
district  all  speak  in  a  language  that  is  direct 
and  familiar.  To  him  this  is  instinctive  knowledge, 
perhaps  superior  in  practice  to  the  teachings  of  a 
technical  school.  Adding  to  his  intuitions  the  lessons 
learned  by  observation  and  experience,  he  has  become 
a  master  miner,  and  is  so  recognized  by  all  who  are 
familiar  with  his  achievements  and  are  capable  of 
appreciating  such  a  combination  of  the  elements  in 
one  man  as  makes  him  the  leader  in  practical  mining 
in  the  United  States,  which  means  in  the  world,  for 
our  nation  is  already  in  advance  of  all  others  in  this 


372  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

industry.  If  T  were  asked  what  are  the  elements  that 
constitute  such  an  order  of  ability,  talent  or  genius  for 
mining  as  he  possesses,  I  might  answer  the  question 
by  asking  another,  for  instance  :  What  makes  one 
man  preeminent  in  anything  in  which  preeminence 
is  dependent  upon  a  peculiarity  and  fitness  of  mind 
and  character  ?  What  are  the  essentials  to  superior 
ity  in  literature,  science,  art,  or  commerce?  Each'of 
these  and  every  other  calls  for  an  intellectuality  more 
or  less  distinct,  and  so  does  the  practice  as  well  as 
the  theory  of  mining.  It  requires  for  its  successful 
prosecution  an  intimate  and  extensive  comprehension 
of  both  physical  and  human  nature  ;  for  the  miner  is 
antagonized  at  every  step  not  only  by  the  earth  but 
by  his  fellow  man.  The  history  of  mines  and  mining 
would  be  but  meagerly  written  if  the  record  were 
made  up  altogether  from  underground  experience ; 
the  most  serious  events  to  be  chronicled  in  this  his 
tory  take  place  on  the  surface.  The  miner,  in  the 
widest  sense  of  the  word,  must  be  familiar  with  the 
actual  business  and  operations  of  developing  a  mine, 
and  he  must  be  able  to  maintain  himself  in  the  inevi 
table  competition  and  struggle  with  a  class  of  men, 
who,  striving  for  large  gains  at  small  cost,  are  unsur 
passed  in  fertility  of  expedients,  persistency,  and  dar 
ing.  He  who  would  survive  in  mining  must  first  of 
all  know  for  himself  with  some  certainty  what  a  mine 
actually  is,  which  knowledge  is  rare,  and  for  the  lack  of 
it  many  ruinous  mistakes  are  made. 

It  is  by  no  means  a  simple,  easy  matter  to  acquire 
possession  of  a  valuable  mining  property,  either  by 
right  of  discovery,  which  involves  a  world  of  prospect 
ing,  or  by  purchase.  The  process  is  generally  a  battle 
from  the  first  to  the  last  step,  and  then  if  in  the  end 
undisturbed  possession  of  a  mine  is  obtained,  a  new 
history  is  begun.  A  mine  has  its  individuality,  and, 
in  order  to  be  worked  advantageously  it  must  be 
understood.  In  its  season  of  bonanza  its  proprietors 


GEORGE  HEARST.  373 

must  look  well  to  the  economies  against  the  day  of 
borasca,  which  is  sure  to  come  at  some  time. 

The  control  and  management  of  a  mine  is  often  a 
commercial  and  financial  problem,  the  solution  of 
which  requires  the  greatest  caution  consistent  with 
enterprise,  the  greatest  deliberation  consistent  with 
despatch.  The  typical  miner,  having  once  formed  his 
judgment  in  accordance  with  the  facts,  as  he  perceives 
them,  must  20  to  the  legitimate  conclusion  of  that 

O  O 

judgment,  otherwise  he  would  be  in  his  business  what 
others  without  enterprise  are  in  theirs,  a  common 
place  operator.  In  other  words,  in  the  ratio  in  which 
a  mine  involves  a  greater  or  less  amount  of  capital  it 
involves  a  greater  or  less  amount  of  attention  from 
the  eager  and  selfish  world,  which  is  at  war  with  it 
and  its  owner.  In  prosperity  he  has  the  sympathy 
and  encouragement  of  all,  even  of  those  who  envy  him 
and  are  ceaselessly  engaged  in  efforts  to  overthrow 
and  displace  him ;  but,  if  he  fall,  his  fall  is  likely  to 
be  as  that  of  Lucifer,  who  never  rose  again.  The 
ability  to  rise  out  of  the  ashes  of  borasca  is  perhaps 
the  very  best  test  of  manhood  as  exhibited  in  mining. 
Those  who  fall  and  are  crippled  or  killed  make  but  a 
ripple  upon  the  surface  of  mining ;  but  the  few,  among 
whom  George  Hearst  is  a  conspicuous  figure,  who 
come  up  fresh  and  elastic  from  catastrophes  such  as 
overwhelm  and  bury  others,  erect  a  fresh  monument 
to  themselves  in  the  history  of  mining  whenever  they 
rise  again. 

The  difference  among  those  who  survive  and  those 
who  perish  is  about  the  difference  among  the  number 
of  miners,  who,  by  accident,  are  buried  under  a  mass 
of  debris;  one  will  make  his  way  out  perhaps  by  well 
nigh  superhuman  exertions  and  live,  the  others 
remain  to  be  dug  out  by  friendly  hands  after  the  life  has 
gone  out  of  them. 

Hearst's  maturity  as  a  miner  was  probably  reached 
during  his  experience  on  the  Comstock  ;  still  this  was 
hardly  more  than  the  beginning  of  his  activity  in 


374  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

enterprises  that  have  been  an  important  part  of  the 
world's  mining. 

Mr  Hearst  was  called  away  from  the  scene  of  his 
operations  to  the  bedside  of  his  mother.  Leaving  his 
affairs  as  best  he  could  in  the  hands  of  others,  he  went 
to  see  her  and  be  with  her  to  the  end  of  her  last  ill 
ness.  One  of  the  most  agreeable  and  attractive  feat 
ures  of  his  character  is  the  unselfish  and  tender  regard 
he  always  evinced  for  his  mother,  whom  he  so  much 
resembled  and  who  had  never  been  out  of  his  mind  in 
all  the  vicissitudes  of  his  busy  and  eventful  career. 
He  devoted  himself  entirely  to  her,  doing  everything 
that  love  and  affection  could  devise  for  her  comfort 
and  consolation.  Seeing  that  her  end  was  rapidly 
approaching,  her  great  solicitude  was  for  his  future. 
Retaining  her  clearness  of  mind  up  to  the  very  last, 
she  counselled  with  him  from  time  to  time,  and  offered 
him  convincing  reasons  why  he  should  not  remain 
unmarried  as  he  had  proposed. 

The  37oung  woman  who  filled  her  mind  as  the  one 
to  make  him  a  good  and  true  wife  was  a  neighbor's 
daughter,  named  for  herself,  Phoebe  Elizabeth  Apher- 
son,  a  sensible  and  beautiful  girl,  of  whose  character 
and  worth  she  was  sure.  It  was  his  good  fortune  to 
act  upon  his  mother's  advice,  which,  in  the  fullness  of 
time,  for  so  happy  and  so  serious  an  event,  resulted  in 
his  securing  the  prize  for  which  he  strove — a  woman 
whose  price  is  far  above  rubies;  who  looketh  well  to 
the  ways  of  her  household,  and  eateth  not  the  bread  of 
idleness.  From  the  day  of  their  marriage,  June  15, 
1862,  she  has  given  him  that  support  which  comes  of 
pure  sympathy.  Their  love  was  born  of  mutual  respect 
and  perfected  in  appreciation,  and  they  have  lived  the 
compliment  and  supplement  of  each  other  in  typical 
wedlock. 

He  had  told  her  but  little  of  his  affairs  in  California, 
and  she  allied  herself  to  him  for  himself  not  for  his 
fortune,  while  he  prized  her  for  her  own  worth. 
Arrived  in  San  Francisco  she  found  that  her  husband 


GEORGE  HEARST.  375 

was  a  man  of  large  business,  and  occupying  a  leading 
place  in  the  affairs  of  the  Pacific  coast,  of  which  the 
metropolis  was  the  centre. 

Mrs  Hearst's  people  were  early  Virginians,  con 
nected  with  the  old  stock,  among  whom  were  the 
Randolphs  of  Roanoke.  Her  grandfather  was  Dr 
John  Apherson,  of  Abbingdon,  Virginia,  an  excellent 
physician  and  a  prominent  citizen.  Her  father  went 
at  twenty  years  of  age  to  Missouri,  where  his  princi 
pal  occupation  was  farming ;  although  he  was  inter 
ested  also  in  business  in  Keokuk,  Iowa.  Her  moth 
er's  family  were  Dutch  people  of  means  and  respecta 
bility,  who  settled  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina, 
whence  they  too  emigrated  to  Missouri,  when  her 
mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Whitmeyer,  was  two 
years  old.  There  are  still  some  of  her  relatives  living 
in  Holland.  She  attended  school  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  her  birthplace  until  she  was  fifteen,  and 
then  received  a  year's  tuition  under  a  governess  in  the 
family  of  a  friend.  She  was  a  very  ambitious  girl, 
f  md  of  study,  and  loved  her  books  above  everything 
else.  She  was  an  earnest  and  thorough  student,  and 
her  education  has  been  continuous,  for  she  has  made 
the  most  of  her  opportunities  of  liberal  culture,  and, 
possessing  talent,  has  become  a  woman  of  fine  literary 
attainments. 

In  the  society  of  California,  and  in  the  social  circles 
of  Washington,  she  is  known  and  appreciated  for  her 
excellent  judgment  and  earnest  activity  in  those 
things  which  are  the  highest  ornament  of  woman 
hood.  The  duties  to  society  incumbent  upon  one  in 
her  prominent  position  she  discharges  faithfully 
and  with  the  grace  which  is  to  her  as  a  second 
nature.  Her  home  is  the  abode  of  elegance  and 
comfort,  of  rest  and  hospitality  ;  but  her  ambition  is 
not  for  social  distinction,  though  she  responds  fully  to 
the  requirements  of  her  position.  Yet  in  a  moment,  if 
occasion  require,  she  can  lay  aside  without  regret 
all  that  is  unsubstantial  in  what  is  called  the  great 


376  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

world.  While  living  in  San  Francisco  in  a  style  in 
keeping  with  the  prosperity  and  wealth  of  her  hus 
band,  a  shadow  darkened  his  business  for  a  time.  In 
order  to  relieve  him  she  gave  up  her  palatial  residence, 
and  practised  the  strictest  economy..  This  evidence 
of  spirit,  good  sense,  and  loyalty  gave  her  an  oppor 
tunity  to  find  out  who  were  worthy  to  be  numbered 
as  her  friends.  The  cloud  upon  Mr  Hearst's  finances 
soon  passed  away  and  with  it  her  appreciation 
of  those  whose  well-feigned  previous  regard  for  her, 
which  now  they  would  most  gladly  simulate  anew, 
went  no  deeper  than  a  time-serving  interest.  Mrs 
Hearst  in  the  kindness  of  her  heart  would  be  glad  if 
in  this  respect  her  memory  were  less  retentive  ;  but 
she  takes  a  bright  view  of  the  world,  accepting  things 
as  they  are,  and  in  her  circle  are  many  real  and  faith 
ful  friends,  her  loyalty  to  whom  is  never  shaken  by 
any  misfortune  that  may  overtake  them. 

There  are  none  more  deeply  interested  in  such  benev 
olent  woi  k  as  women  can  do  to  the  best  advantage.  Mrs 
Hearst  was  instrumental  in  founding  the  homeopathic 
hospital  in  San  Francisco,  a  most  useful  institution, 
of  which  she  was  the  president  for  four  years,  and  to 
which  she  devoted  much  of  her  time  and  attention. 
Subsequent  changes  were  made  in  its  management. 
She  was  in  favor  of  utilizing  the  talent  and  adap 
tability  of  female  physicians  in  the  hospital,  which 
was  considered  a  step  in  advance  of  the  times.  Her 
views  in  regard  to  this  matter  were  purely  those  of 
fitness  and  expediency,  for  she  has  in  every  way  been 
opposed  to  what  is  called  woman's  rights,  believ 
ing  that  women  should  take  no  part  in  politics  so  far 
as  voting  is  concerned,  or  should  indeed  undertake 
any  work  for  which  she  is  disqualified  by  nature, 
education,  and  the  environment  of  sex. 

Mrs  Hearst  did  not  wish  to  be  merely  prominent 
in  charity,  but  to  be  an  actual  factor  in  all  good  work. 
She  has  taken  a  special  interest  in  the  kindergarten 
system,  which  she  has  studied  very  carefully,  in 


GEORGE  HEARST.  377 

theory  and  practice,  both  in  the  United  States  and  in 
Europe.  At  her  own  expense  she  has  established 
and  maintained  three  schools  in  San  Francisco,  in 
which  a  hundred  and  fifty  little  children  get  their 
first  tuition  according  to  a  rational  and  natural  plan. 
So  much  depends  upon  training  children  in  the  bud- 
din  or  season  of  their  growth,  and  in  moulding  them  at 

o  ^    o  7  ^         o 

their  most  impressionable  age.  To  provide  attractive 
lessons  for  these  waifs,  some  of  them  taken  from  the 
very  gutters,  to  say  nothing  of  clothing  them  and 
conciliating  their  parents,  requires  the  inmost  spirit  ot 
charity,  together  with  no  small  measure  of  applica 
tion  and  patience. 

Another  work  to  which  Mrs  Hearst  has  devoted 
herself,  but  to  which  she  has  not  yet  been  able  to 
carry  out,  is  the  establishment  of  an  experimental 
industrial  school,  in  the  hope  that  it  may  lead  to  the 
found inor  Of  similar  institutions  throughout  the  coun- 

O  C? 

try.  This  was  suggested  to  her  by  the  want  of  such 
a  feature  in  the  public  schools,  and  by  the  opportunity 
which  occurs  between  the  time  when  the  child 
leaves  the  kindergarten  and  becomes  old  enough  to  be 

O  O 

registered  in  these  schools.  Children,  she  thinks, 
enter  them  too  early,  and  are  kept  in  a  certain  groove 
until  their  personality,  which  is  often  the  last  thing 
studied,  is  impaired  or  destroyed. 

If  between  the  kindergarten  and  the  public  school 
the  child  can  be  taken,  and  its  faculties  trained  with 
an  agreeable,  and  healthful  development,  what  an 
improvement  might  not  be  looked  for  in  the  mental 
and  moral  character  of  our  boys  and  girls  I  When  in 
Europe  she  had  letters  to  the  managers  of  such  insti 
tutions  in  Berlin,  Vienna,  Dresden,  and  London,  and 
made  a  close  investigation  into  the  subject,  which  she 
has  now  formulated  in  her  mind,  so  as  to  be  ready  to 
put  the  plan  into  execution  at  the  earliest  practicable 
date.  It  will  take  time  however,  and  cooperation,  as 
the  expense  of  even  a  thorough  test  will  be  consider 
able,  and  require  much  care  and  attention. 


378  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

She  looks  forward  with  pleasure  to  the  founding 
of  a  manual  school  in  California,  where  the  advan 
tages  of  climate  and  health  conditions  are  superior. 
In  the  gardens  in  which  it  is  proposed  to  teach  chil 
dren,  their  little  minds  will  be  put  into  communion 
witli  plants  and  flowers,  and  a  sympathy  engendered 
with  nature,  animate  and  inanimate.  Under  skilled 
and  earnest  guidance  they  soon  learn  the  actual 
history  of  each  and  every  plant,  their  character  and 
uses,  and  the  various  industries  dependent  upon  them. 
In  addition  to  this,  living  objects  are  to  be  minutely 
and  familiarly  described  to  the  little  ones,  offering 
them  tempting  and  delightful  occupation  at  the  most 
critical  period  of  their  mental  development. 

Then  again,  under  the  system  of  industrial  teach 
ing  proposed,  girls  should  be  taught  cooking,  washing, 
ironing,  mending,  and  general  housekeeping.  "How 
wasteful,"  remarks  Mrs  Hearst  "the  poor  people  of 
our  country  arel  It  is  extraordinary  that  generally 
they  so  ill  understood  how  to  get  the  most  out  of 
the  little  they  possess.  They  often  use  the  less  nutri 
tious  food,  and  discard  that  which  is  more  nutritious, 
merely  for  want  of  a  rudimentary  knowledge  of  die 
tetics.  The  life  of  our  social  system  depends  greatly 
upon  healthful  and  happy  marriages ;  but  as  a  rule 
our  girls  are  not  brought  up  to  be  useful  and  help 
ful,  and  a  great  many  men  are  deterred  from  marrying 
by  this  fact.  I  look  upon  such  a  training  as 
essential ;  for  all  persons  should  feel  that  labor  is  not 
only  honorable,  but  that  it  is  a  necessary  discipline, 
and  indispensable  to  the  formation  of  sound  char 
acter.  I  do  not  think  that  people  should  be  educated 
above  their  station  in  life,  and  no  harm  can  come  to 
any  one  from  being  prepared  to  make  the  most  of  an 
humble  home. 

"  I  have  not  the  slightest  idea  that  the  advantages 
of  education  should  be  kept  from  the  poorer  classes  ; 
on  the  contrary  I  think  they  should  be  educated  in  a 
way  that  would  enable  them  to  make  the  most  of 


GEORGE  HEARST.  379 

their  present  position  and  cultivate  them  to  fill  any 
higher  station  to  which  they  may  be  elevated.  Girls 
should  be  taught  to  do  all  kinds  of  useful  work.  I 
am  indebted  to  my  mother  that  I  am  able  to  sew, 
wash,  iron,  mend,  and  churn.  I  did  not  find  her 
discipline  altogether  agreeable  at  the  time,  but  I  have 
learned  to  thank  her  since,  for  her  teaching  has  made 
me  independent. 

"  I  think  if  I  should  car^  out  my  ideas  I  would 
like  very  much  to  establish  a  kindergarten  and  a 
manual  labor  class  at  each  of  the  mining  places  where 
Mr  Hearst  is  interested ;  at  the  Anaconda  mine  in 
Montana,  for  instance.  I  saw  such  a  school  in  opera 
tion  at  Potsdam,  Germany,  under  the  general  care  of 
a  lady  whose  husband  was  engaged  in  a  large  manu 
factory.  I  see  no  reason  why  we  should  riot  do  some 
thing  of  that  kind  in  our  country.  I  think  it  would 
tend  very  much  toward  preventing  the  troubles  which 
are  so  much  feared  by  us  on  account  of  the  various 
nationalities  among  our  laboring  people,  which  do  not 
readily  assimilate.  It  seems  that  an  earnest  effort  in 
this  direction  will  be  rewarded  by  an  improvement  in 
the  children  in  the  next  generation.  Higher  educa 
tion  will  always  take  care  of  itself ;  we  should  look 
rather  to  rudimentary  and  useful  training." 

During  her  travels  in  Europe,  Mrs  Hearst  has 
taken  great  pains,  as  a  lover  of  art,  to  make  herself 
familiar  with  its  principles  and  history,  and  has 
manifested  her  appreciation  of  this  branch  of  culture 
by  giving  to  more  than  one  young  woman  of  talent 
the  opportunity  of  studying  at  home  or  abroad  in  the 
manner  best  adapted  to  their  natural  qualifications. 
She  was  elected  president  of  the  Century  club,  a  society 
of  women  devoted  to  the  cultivation  of  art,  literature, 
and  music,  and  which  has  recently  become  a  part  of 
the  national  society  of  the  same  general  character. 

Mr  Hearst  withdrew  from  mining  on  the  Comstock 
in  1867,  and  for  a  short  time  was  occupied  in  real 
estate  transactions  in  San  Francisco,  anticipating  the 


380  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

activity  that  would  result  from  the  completion  of  the 
first  overland  railroad.  In  this  side  work — for  every 
thing  but  mining  had  been  incidental  to  him — he  lost 
all  the  ready  money  that  he  had.  Upon  the  real 
estate  of  which  he  retained  ownership,  he  borrowed 
a  considerable  sum  of  money  and  went  down  into 
Kern  county  and  mined  successfully.  Re-entering 
the  real  estate  business,  he  retrieved  himself,  and  by 
1869  had  added  largely  to  his  wealth. 

His  next  turn  at  his  regular  vocation  was  a  mining 
enterprise  in  the  territory  of  Idaho,  in  which  in 
common  with  other  conspicuous  Comstock  mining 
men  he  sunk  a  great  deal  of  money.  So  precarious 
is  mining  that  the  best  judgment  will  be  at  fault 
sometimes ;  but  losses  are  more  likely  to  occur  in 
mining  if  an  enterprise  is  undertaken  upon  some 
one  else's  representations  ;  for  although  there  must 
always  be  an  element  of  speculation  in  mining  work, 
the  conservative  miner  can  ordinarily  so  hedge  him 
self  about  as  to  take  comparatively  few  more  risks 
than  are  involved  even  in  any  other  avocations. 

In  the  White  Pine  excitement  he  was  present,  and 
had  to  do  with  the  principal  features  of  that  develop 
ment.  When  the  tide  flowed  over  to  Pioche,  he  was 
found  there,  but  before  the  wreck  came  he  had  the 
foresight  to  leave  the  ship  and  save  himself.  At  Min 
eral  hill  his  expert  knowledge  was  valuable  to  himself 
and  to  those  associated  with  him.  Again  at  Eureka, 
all  of  these  mentioned  being  in  the  state  of  Nevada 
and  celebrated  in  the  annals  of  mining,  he  was  the 
man  who  had  the  largest  part  in  putting  the  Eureka 
Consolidated  mine  upon  a  basis  of  development.  His 
judgment  in  securing  and  working  this  mine,  which 
afterwards  proved  one  of  the  most  substantial 
bonanzas  in  the  silver  state,  was  an  evidence  of  his 
sound  sense  ;  and  that  he  withdrew  from  those  that 
were  engaged  in  the  enterprise  with  him  was  not 
because  he  thought  less  of  the  investment  when  he 

o 

gave  it  up  than  when  he  made  it. 


GEORGE   HEARST.  381 

His  next  movement  in  minino-  was  in  the  neighbor- 

o  o 

hood  of  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah,  to  which  place  he  was 
attracted  by  a  telegram  in  which  it  was  claimed  in 
the  superlative  language  of  mines  and  mining  that 
"  the  bio-o-est  mine  in  the  world  "  had  been  discovered 
thereabout.  Great  excitement  prevailed.  Conflict 
ing  opinions  were  expressed  with  regard  to  the  value 
of  the  new  find.  Marcus  Daly,  now  prominent  in 
milling  in  Montana,  associated  there  with  Mr  Hearst, 
gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  the  mine  so  called  was 
worthless  but  said  that  there  was  a  little  mine  in  its 
neighborhood  that  a  prospector  was  digging  into  and 
in  which  he  had  made  a  hole  about  four  feet  deep  and 
perhaps  six  or  eight  feet  in  length. 

Said  he,  "Mr  Hearst,  my  people  don't  like  it,  but  I 
think  you  will." 

Mr  Hearst  went  to  examine  what  by  courtesy  was 
called  a  mine,  a  hole  dug  by  the  side  of  the  vein. 
Others  had  been  prohibited  from  sampling  the  deposit 
but,  knowing  him  so  well,  one  of  the  owners  told 
him  to  dig  away  into  it  all  he  wanted  to,  saying, 
"  You  can  tear  it  down  all  you  will.  I  have  had  a 
chance  three  different  times  since  I  came  out  here  to 
make  a  stake.  This  time  I'll  make  a  go  of  it.  I  am 
going  to  sell." 

He  and  two  others  were  the  proprietors. 

"  How  much  do  you  want  for  it  ?"  asked  Mr  Hearst. 

"  Twenty-five  thousand  dollars  ;  there  is  not  much 
done  yet  but  you  just  stay  round  here  awhile  and 
watch  us  ;  we  are  going  to  sell." 

The  others  of  Mr  Hearst's  party,  to  show  the 
difference  between  those  who  travel  on  a  straight 
road  and  those  who  are  running  aside  in  pursuit  of 
other  things,  were  eager  to  get  to  Pioche,  then  the 
scene  of  great  mining  activity  ;  so  eager  in  fact  were 
they  that  they  paid  little  attention  to  what  Mr 
Hearst  saw  would  warrant  a  thorough  investigation. 
When  they  called  him  up  in  the  morning  to  go  with 
them  he  said: 


382  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

"I  am  going  to  stay  here  and  watch  this  little 
mine  awhile." 

Going  out  every  now  and  then  to  see  how  the 
work  of  development  progressed  and  how  the  forma 
tion  held  out,  he  spent  three  weeks  in  the  neighbor 
hood  occupied  entirely  with  this  prospect.  Finally 
his  mind  having  been  made  up,  he  got  possession  of 
the  property  for  $30,000,  paid  for  the  ground  and 
$3,000  to  satisfy  and  get  rid  of  an  outside  party  who 
held  some  claim  to  it. 

These  are  the  circumstances  under  which  the 
marvellous  development  in  the  Ontario  mine  began, 
beyond  the  mountains,  some  thirty-five  miles  south* 
east  of  Salt  Lake  City. 

Its  history  from  the  beginning  is  but  an  extract 
from  the  history  of  George  Hearst,  miner.  It  is 
significant  that  its  annual  net  output  is  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  one  million  dollars,  and  that  its  total  net 
yield  up  to  July  1890  has  been  upward  of  thirteen 
million  dollars. 

It  is  easy  thus  to  outline  the  beginnings  ana  per 
fection  of  an  enterprise  on  paper  ;  but  it  must  not  be 
assumed  that  all  that  Mr  Hearst  was  called  upon 
to  do  was  to  extract  the  metal  from  his  deposit, 
build  reduction  works  and  convert  ore  into  bullion. 
The  rock  was  rebellious,  containing  a  small  percent 
age  of  lead  and  zinc,  a  little  copper  and  a  little  gold. 
Ways  and  means  had  to  be  devised  by  which  to 
extract  the  precious  metals  from  the  ore  profitably. 
He  was  engaged  upon  this  problem  when  the  cloud 
upon  his  finances  recently  referred  to  in  my  brief 
mention  of  Mrs  Hearst,  made  it  imperative  upon 
them  to  husband  their  resources  until  the  obstacle 
was  removed.  The  uncertainties  and  anxieties 
involved  in  the  struggle  with  a  new  and  untried 
character  of  rebellious  ore  such  as  this,  and  which 
involved  the  loss  or  disuse  of  a  vast  property 
such  as  the  Ontario  was  then  recognized  by  all  to 
be,  can  only  be  appreciated  by  those  whose  all  was 


G1ORGE  HEARST.  383 

tied  up  in  it.  Without  going  into  details  as  to  what 
process  was  discovered  by  which  to  reduce  the  ore, 
suffice  it  to  say,  that  largely  to  Mr  Hearst's  faith, 
pluck,  and  determination,  the  problem  was  solved 
with  the  result  as  best  indicated  from  the  fact  that 
the  Ontario  mine  in  1890  was  yielding  regularly  a 
dividend  to  its  owners  of  upwards  of  $75,000  per 
month. 

Another  mine  owned  by  himself  and  associates  in 
the  neighborhood  called  the  Daly,  which  would  be 
noted  as  a  remarkable  property  but  for  comparison 
with  the  Ontario,  is  yielding  himself  and  others 
$30,000  per  month. 

The  next  large  undertaking  in  which  he  engaged 
was  mining:  in  the  Black  hills  of  Dakota.  It  will 

c? 

be  observed  that  his  operations  were  not  confined  to 
any  one  or  two  districts  or  states,  but  that  his  enter 
prises  carried  him  to  widely  separate  points  and  into 
new  and  untried  fields ;  for  he  had  the  boldness  and 
self-confidence  to  apply  his  energies  wherever  his 
judgment  led  him.  In  this  he  differs  from  almost 
every  other  great  miner  on  the  Pacific  coast;  for  as 
a  rule  it  is  contrary  to  their  policy  to  distribute  their 
energies  over  a  wide  field,  for  the  reason  perhaps 
that  they  are  wanting  in  that  elastichVy  which 
characterized  Mr  Hearst,  and  are  more  apt  than  he  to 
tie  themselves  down  to  a  locality  to  which  they  have 
become  accustomed.  For  it  seems  to  me  that  in  cover 
ing  the  immense  territory  that  formed  the  field  of 
his  operations,  his  concentration  has  not  been  less, 
but  rather  the  greater,  the  diversity  of  conditions 
under  which  he  has  worked  proving  to  be  a  stimulus. 
It  appears  that  as  the  oak  from  the  acorn,  so  all 
large  things  have  apparently  an  insignificant  begin 
ning,  originating  often  in  seemingly  trivial  circum 
stances.  One  of  the  evidences  of  genius  in  mining, 
however,  is  to  know  a  lead  when  you  see  it,  and  to 
follow  it  up  until  it  either  proves  a  failure  or  develops 
into  a  mine.  In  this  instance  Mr  Hearst  was  not  by 


384  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

any  means  the  only  one  whose  attention  had  been 
drawn  to  the  Black  hills,  nor,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
he  the  only  one  when  he  had  been  called  upon  to 
inspect  the  hole  in  the  ground  out  of  which  came  the 
Ontario.  His  superiority  as  a  miner  appears  perhaps 
as  strongly  in  this  fact  as  in  any  other.  That  he  has 
acted  upon  and  at  once  tested  what  in  his  judgment 
pointed  to  the  existence  of  a  valuable  mining  property 
is  evident,  and  if  any  substantiation  of  his  judgment 
were  needed,  it  would  b@  sufficient  to  simply  note  the 
character  of  mining  property  that  he  has  thus  got 
possession  of  by  following  up  a  lead  which,  to  others, 
either  appeared  to  be  blind  or  worthless. 

In  1875  a  wild  fellow  of  a  distinct  class  known  as 
prospectors,  who  was  in  the  habit  of  coming  to  Mr 
Hearst  and  getting  a  grub  stake  and  money  to  keep 
him  moving  over  the  mountains,  sent  him  word  of 
this  mine.  The  first  samples  of  the  rock  he  saw  at 
Salt  Lake  City  the  year  before  and  discovered  gold  m 
them.  His  superintendent,  Mr  Chambers,  in  charge 
of  the  Ontario  property,  was  sent  by  him  to  inspect 
the  Dakota  prospect  and  report  upon  it,  but  the  Indian 
outbreak  rendered  the  proposed  trip  impossible.  In 
th«  meanwhile  Mr  Hearst  was  taken  ill,  and, 
during  his  illness  a  stack  of  telegrams  came  to  him, 
but  lay  unopened  until  he  recovered  and  was  allowed 
by  his  physicians  to  resume  business.  Taking  imme 
diate  steps  to  get  full  information  upon  which  to  pass 
judgment  regarding  the  enterprise,  and  having  there 
upon  satisfied  himself  that  the  Dakota  property  had  a 
great  future,  he  endeavored  to  get  certain  San  Fran 
cisco  parties  to  take  part  with  him  in  the  project.  It 
was  too  far  away  from  base  for  them,  and  becoming 
tired  of  their  indecision,  he  made  the  announcement 
to  his  partner,  Mr  J.  B.  Haggin :  "To-morrow 
morning  I  start  for  the  Black  hills."  It  is  in  order 
at  this  point  to  say  that  Mr  Hearst  ascribes  much 
of  his  success  to  the  assistance  of  Mr  Haggin's  mas 
terly  financial  ability,  and  his  ever  true  and  loyal  sym- 


GEORGE  HEARST.  385 

pathy  and  cooperation.  To  his  other  able  and  well 
chosen  associates,  all  along  the  line,  he  is  equally  just 
and  generous,  honestly  dividing  with  them  his  credit 
as  well  as  his  great  work. 

The  intervening  steps  may  be  passed  over  to  the 
point  where  Mr  Hearst,  having  by  quick  and  decisive 
action  got  possession  of  the  mine  which  he  wanted, 
he  set  about  vigorously  to  develop  it.  In  the  district  in 
which  he  now  found  himself  nearly  every  mining  enter 
prise  was  a  failure,  and  he  saw  with  a  breadth  of  com 
prehension  peculiar  to  himself  that  it  would  not  do  for 
him,  and  those  interested  with  him,  to  go  forward  in 
the  management  of  their  property  as  others  were 
doing  with  theirs.  That  is  to  say,  that  mining  in  the 
Black  hills  district  on  a  small  scale  could  not  be 
made  profitable  on  account  of  the  very  low  grade  of 
the  ore  ;  but  that  there  was  a  margin  of  profit  to  be 
made  by  the  extraction  and  reduction  of  this  ore  on  a 
very  large  scale.  With  him  action  followed  upon  the 
heels  of  thought. 

His  first  step  to  enlarge  the  field  of  operation  was 
to  put  two  hundred  stamps  in  motion,  later  increasing 
the  number  to  six  hundred,  which  now  fall  continu 
ously  through  twenty-four  hours  of  each  day.  The 
ore,  which  is  of  the  free  milling  character,  carries  but 
•little  gold,  which  is  the  only  precious  metal  it  con 
tains,  and  is  made  to  pay  by  the  cheapness  with  which 
it  is  reduced ;  which  cheapness,  as  indicated,  results 
from  working  it  on  a  prodigious  scale. 

Along  with  the  work  of  continuous  development  of 
this  property,  he  and  his  partner,  Mr  Haggin,  have 
incidental  water  rights,  which  they  use  for  their  own 
purpose,  and  with  which  they  supply  the  community 
congregated  about  the  mines.  They  also  have  a  rail 
road,  built  at  no  small  cost,  and  like  the  water  supply 
is  used  mainly  for  their  own  purpose ;  but  is  of 
great  benefit  to  others  in  whose  midst  their  work 
proceeds. 

C.B.—  II.    25 


386  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

It  should  be  noted  for  the  light  it  casts  upon  the 
subject  under  study,  that  various  attempts  had  been 
made  by  other  parties  to  bring  water  into  the  mines, 
but  that  all  such  efforts,  looking  to  the  introduction 
of  the  amount  of  water  needed,  had  failed  ;  and  that 
the  project  was  finally  given  up,  because  it  was  calcu 
lated  that  the  amount  of  money  necessary  to  bring  in 
water  on  the  scale  required  was  too  great  to  make  the 
project  a  good  investment.  But  Mr  Hearst,  with  the 
practical  knowledge  of  mining  in  all  its  details,  and 
possessing  that  faculty  of  observation  which  a  great 
author  has  called  equivalent  to  genius,  bought  a 
number  of  water  rights  and  springs,  and  by  leading 
them  all  into  one  channel  arrived  at  the  results 
desired  at  a  comparatively  slight  cost ;  that  is,  about 
a  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  dollars;  whereas, 
the  general  calculation  had  been  that  the  expense 
would  amount  to  not  less  than  a  million. 

The  great  value  of  a  life  such  as  Mr  Hearst's  is 
incalculable.  It  is  priceless  in  this,  that  it  enlarges  the 
sphere  of  human  possibility  by  demonstrating  to  those 
who  seek  for  lessons  in  his  life  that  things  are  capable 
of  accomplishment,  which,  but  for  the  encouragement 
of  his  example,  might  seem  hopeless  and  offer  only 
apprehension  and  discouragement.  The  force  of  Ins 
character  justly  appreciated  is  a  tonic,  a  stimulant, 
for  all  those,  who,  finding  themselves  confronted  by 
obstacles,  appreciate  what  he  has  done  to  remove 
them.  The  essential  and  indestructible  part  of  a 
man's  existence  is  the  moral  force  engendered,  but  to 
point  perhaps  more  practicably  the  advantage  that 
others  derive  from  his  living,  it  need  only  be  sug 
gested  that  he  has  not  lived  for  himself,  and  that  the 
larger  the  activity  of  the  man  the  greater  the  number 
of  his  fellow-men  for  whom  he  lives. 

So  far  as  regards  his  usefulness  to  others,  it  is 
immaterial  to  them  whether  he  has  considered  them  in 
his  plans,  for  in  the  economy  of  human  affairs  all 
men  are  interdependent  more  or  less  upon  each  other, 


GEORGE  HEARST.  387 

constituting  the  interesting  and  ever  blending  parts 
of  one  great  organism.  It  has  been  remarked  by  one 
of  America's  most  acute  philosophers  and  political 
economists,  John  C.  Calhoun,  that  if  the  desire  for 
self-aggrandizement,  self-interest,  selfishness,  or  by- 
whatever  other  name  it  may  be  called,  were  not  the 
perpetual  motive  and  mainspring  of  human  action,  the 
world  would  relapse,  society  become  stagnant,  and 
chaos  take  the  place  of  industry.  The  material  needs 
of  man  are  the  first  that  must  be  supplied.  Moral 
and  mental  requirements,  not  less  to  be  cared  for, 
come  later.  The  factor,  who  by  his  talent  and  indus 
try  contributes  to  the  wealth,  power,  and  happiness 
of  the  community  is  ipso  facto  a  philanthropist;  sup 
plying,  first  of  all,  to  others  dependent  upon  his  labor, 
directly  or  indirectly,  the  necessities  of  physical 
nature.  Step  by  step  as  he  enlarges  his  estate  -his 
beneficence  grows  and  spreads  further  and  further 
among  those  known  and  unknown  to  him,  whether  he 
have  it  in  mind  to  so  point  his  beneficence  or  not. 
'Such  activity  is  practical  charity. 

Mr  Hearst  is  a  man  of  affectionate  and  sympa 
thetic  temper,  and  is  pleased  to  see  the  greatest  good 
to  others  come  out  of  his  personal  enterprises  ;  and  I 
apprehend  that  it  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  him  to 
contemplate  the  results  that  have  come  from  his 
activity  in  building  up  others  while  engaged  primarily 
in  building  for  himself.  But  so  far  as  these  others 
are  concerned,  I  repeat  that  the  effect  of  his  life  upon 
them  is  just  the  same  whether  they,  in  the  sense  of 
benevolence  or  charity,  form  part  of  his  thinking  or 
not.  I  take  it  that  philanthropy,  as  commonly  under 
stood,  that  is  to  say,  the  act  of  going  about  and 
devotino-  one's  life  to  the  amelioration  of  suffering  or 

<j  • 

the  distribution  of  alms,   is  necessarily  an   incident 
rather  than  a  rule  of  human  action. 

In  order  to  give  one  must  first  have,  and  in  order 
to  have  one  must  get.  The  means  of  benevolence,  the 
source  of  beneficence,  depend  first  or  last  upon  the 


388  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

accumulations  of  those  who  labor  for  self-aggrandiza- 
tion  with  or  without  a  philanthropic  purpose  in  view. 
I  look  upon  those  men  who  have  broadened  and  con 
tributed  to  the  resources,  comfort,  intelligence,  and 
health  of  a  state  or  union,  as  benefactors  of  the  first 
importance,  benefactors  by  virtue  of  their  lives. 

Mr  Hearst's  next  venture  was  to  be  in  another 
remote  part  of  the  great  mineralogical  regions  of  the 
west ;  that  is  to  say,  in  Montana,  at  Anaconda,  this 
being  the  name  of  a  large  active  and  thriving  mining 
community,  in  the  development  of  which  he  has  been 
and  is  still  an  important  factor.  His  attention  was 
called  to  it  by  Marcus  Daly,  who  has  had  full  charge 
and  management  of  the  mine  from  its  infancy — Mr 
Haggin  controlling  its  finances.  To  Mr  Daly  Mr 
Hearst  gives  great  praise  for  his  remarkable  capabili 
ties  as  a  miner,  and  his  not  less  remarkable  character 
as  a  man.  To  him,  also,  he  is  largely  indebted  for 
important  and  indispensable  cooperation.  The  his 
tory  of  the  Anaconda  mine  would  itself  warrant  a 
somewhat  lengthy  and  detailed  study  ;  but  for  the 
purpose  in  hand  an  outline,  in  which  Mr  Hearst's 
identification  with  it  is  revealed,  is  sufficient.  Its 
development  opened  a  new  page  of  knowledge  and 
experience  in  the  mining  of  the  United  States.  For 
the  first  one  hundred  feet  it  was  thought  to  be  entirely 
a  silver  mine,  showing  some  copper  at  that  depth; 
but  at  the  two-hundred  foot  level  it  developed  into  a 
large  copper  vein,  and  is  now  one  thousand  feet  deep, 
the  vein  being  from  thirty  to  forty  feet  thick. 

Here,  again,  was  an  altogether  new  business  to 
learn.  Instead  of  silver  a  plant  must  be  provided  to 
work  copper.  Relying  at  first  upon  others  for  the 
scientific  information  supposed  to  be  necessary  for  the 
development  of  the  mine,  various  experiments  were 
made  with  the  representatives  of  foreign  mineralogical 
schools,  but  all  was  disappointment.  The  independent 
and  self-reliant  spirit  of  Americanism  was  roused,  and 


GEORGE  HEARST.  389 

Mr  Hearst  and  his  associates  made  up  their  minds  to 
work  it  themselves. 

In  the  midst  of  the  difficulties  which  hemmed  them 
in,  and  while  they  were  struggling  to  make  the  prop 
erty  valuable,  a  great  fire  occurred  which  destroyed 
most  of  the  works,  causing  great  loss  and  delay. 
Without  a  moment  given  up  to  regret  or  misgivings, 
they  replaced  the  buildings  destroyed,  by  iron  fire 
proof  structures  on  a  still  larger  scale.  At  this  time 
the  mine  is  in  splendid  running  order.  The  problem 
of  the  reduction  of  the  ore  satisfactorily  solved,  the 
yield  of  the  mine  is  enormous  and  profitable. 

To  show  how  little  appreciation  of  the  character 
and  extent  of  this  property  wTas  in  the  minds  of  men 
whose  specialty  was  speculation  in  copper  mines  and 
the  copper  market,  it  is  suggestive  to  note  that  when 
the  celebrated  French  copper  syndicate  undertook  to 
make  a  world's  corner  of  this  product  several  years 
ago,  they  entered  into  a  contract  with  the  Anaconda 
company  to  furnish  them  a  certain  quantity  of  copper 
which  they  supposed  would  tax  the  mine  beyond  its 
capacity  to  produce;  their  purpose  being  to  this 
extent  to  control  the  Anaconda  mine  and  thus  put  it 
beyond  the  power  of  interference  with  their  scheme. 
The  mine  however  yielded  very  readily  all  that  the 
Frenchman  contracted  to  get  from  it,  and  went  on 
putting  out  a  tremendous  quantity  besides. 

At  almost  every  point  in  a  mining  career  running 
over  the  period  of  half  a  century,  characteristic  inci 
dents  have  occurred  which  afford  an  insight  into  Mr 
Hearst's  mind  and  work.  A  few  of  the  most  suggestive 
of  these  are  noted  in  order  that  he  may  be  under 
stood  hereafter  in  accordance  with  his  acts  and  the 
spirit  that  moves  him  in  his  enterprise.  What  an 
experience  for  one  man  to  have  had,  to  be  the  greater 
part  of  the  large  undertakings  his  connection  with 
which  has  been  referred  to  !  But  in  addition  to  this 
he  has  impressed  his  individuality  upon  mining  in 
Mexico.  He  mined  four  years  after  the  Frazer  river 


390  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

excitement  in  the  Cariboo  district,  tested  the  country, 
proved  it  unprofitable  and  turned  his  back  upon  it. 
This  is  a  fact  worthy  of  consideration,  that  many  who 
might  have^  survived  in  mining  enterprises  but  for 
the  mistake  of  going  beyond  their  depth,  lacked  his 
caution,  and  in  notable  instances  after  exhausting  their 
means  in  a  mining  district,  found  themselves  anchored 
to  it,  unable  to  recover,  and  gave  themselves  up  to 
the  despair  of  fruitless  hopes. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  study  I  referred  to  Mr 
Hearst  as  an  exponent  of  legitimate  mining  as  dis 
tinguished  from  stock  speculation. 

The'  former  has  for  its  object  the  extraction  and 
sale  of  the  precious  metals,  while  the  latter  means 
only  the  exchange  of  mining  securities,  the  one 
being  the  actual  production  of  values,  and  the  other 
dealing  merely  in  certificates  of  value.  On  this 
subject  the  views  of  Mr  Hearst,  whose  long  expe 
rience  entitles  him  to  rank  as  an  authority,  may 
be  of  interest  to  the  reader. 

"As  for  myself  and  my  associates,"  he  says,  "we 
have  had  very  little  use  for  stock-boards.  Our  work 
has  been  in  every  way  simple  and  direct ;  our  plan 
has  been  to  select  a  mine,  put  men  to  work,  erect 
machinery,  and  proceed  to  develop  it  without  regard 
to  stocks  or  stock-boards.  I  have  never  felt  therefore 
that  our  operations  have  been  less  straightforward 
and  legitimate  than  those  of  any  other  vocation.  That 
the  pursuit  of  mining  should  be  criticised  at  all  is 
not  on  account  of  the  nature  of  that  industry,  but 
because,  as  in  every  other  pursuit,  things  are  done 
which  ought  not  to  be  done,  and  this  is  the  fault  of 
the  men  who  do  them  and  not  of  mining  itself. 

"  As  to  the  barter  and  sale  of  mining  securities,  if 
this  is  properly  done  I  see  no  harm  in  it.  I  know  of 
course  that,  owing  to  the  speculative  tendency  of  such 
transactions,  operations  at  the  board  have  not  always 
been  what  they  ought  to  be,  and  to  the  extent  that 
this  has  been  true,  the  effect  of  stock  manipulations 


GEORGE  HEARST.  391 

has  been  injurious  to  commerce  and  demoralizing  to 
society.  I  am  not  of  opinion,  however,  that  this  can 
fairly  be  considered  a  reflection  on  mining,  for  the 
reason  that  speculation  in  any  other  class  of  property 
is  attended  with  nearly  the  same  results.  I  do  not 
think  that  excitements  of  any  kind  are  good  for  the 
country  at  large.  In  fact  I  feel  that  they  are  altogether 
bad  and  unwholesome.  It  is  very  unfortunate  indeed 
for  a  great  many  persons  in  the  community,  especially 
if  they  are  poor,  to  plunge  into  stock  speculations 
blindly  and  ignorantly  ;  for  there  are  often  designing 
men  in  times  of  an  excited  market  who  are  selling 
valuable  shares  purchased  at  low  figures,  and  disposing 
of  wild-cat  stock  at  very  high  figures.  There  is  a 
feverishness,  a  thirst  for  gambling  begot  by  such 
speculation,  that  is  not  only  dangerous  but  ruinous. 
People  who  make  and  lose  money  in  such  chance 
transactions  do  not  differ  from  those  who  risk  their 
money  at  the  faro  table  upon  the  turn  of  a  card. 

"  Still  there  are  two  sides  to  the  question.  It 
must  be  admitted  that  the  buying  and  selling  of 
stock  through  the  mining  board  has  acted  as  a 
stimulus  by  inducing  people  to  look  for  mines  which 
would  not  otherwise  have  been  discovered,  and  I 
believe  that  development  has  thus  been  hastened  a 
great  many  years.  If  the  wrorking  of  mines  had 
been  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  individuals  or  com 
panies,  the  progress  of  this  industry  must  have  been 
very  much'  slower,  and  I  think  that  the  deep  mining 
which  has  been  made  possible  by  large  sales  of  stock 
to  the  public  could  never  have  been  accomplished  by 
individual  or  corporate  effort. 

"  One  result  of  the  sale  of  various  mining  pro 
perties  through  the  exchange  in  San  Francisco, 
making  thousands  of  people  contribute  to  their 
development,  was  an  activity  in  mining  throughout 
this  coast  from  British  Columbia  to  Central  America 
such  as  had  never  been  witnessed  before.  We  had 
very  good  mines  long  before  the  Comstock  was 


392  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

discovered ;  but  little  interest  was  felt  in  their 
development,  because  the  opportunity  to  speculate 
in  them  was  restricted  to  the  few  proprietors  of  the 
stock.  I  think  that  the  stock  excitements  which 
followed  pushed  things  forward  a  great  many  years. 
Of  course,  however,  when  the  reaction  came,  it  was 
very  hard  upon  a  great  many  people  who  had  put 
more  money  into  such  speculations  than  they  could 
afford  to  risk,  and  lost  it  all. 

"  While  stock  speculation  is  at  times  attended 
with  much  harm  to  the  individual,  it  is  well  to 
inquire  whether  this  is  not  in  a  measure  compensated 
by  the  fact  that,  without  the  intervention  of  the 
stock  exchange,  the  vast  accumulation  of  wealth 
which  mining  has  given  to  the  country  would  never 
have  occurred." 

This  is  the  way  in  which  Mr  Hearst  considers  all 
great  questions,  balancing  the  good  against  the  evil, 
without  prejudice  or  prepossession,  with  justice  to  all 
and  malice  toward  none. 

It  is  not  remarkable  that  a  man  of  his  caliber  and 
temperament  should  find  favor  with  the  public,  and 
that  he  should  be  called  upon  to  represent  the  people 
in  an  official  capacity.  He  has  never  sought  political 
preferment.  In  fact  his  own  affairs  have  been  so 
great  a  tax  upon  his  time  and  energies  that  it  would 
have  been  almost  at  any  time  like  a  sacrifice  of  his 
personal  interests  to  fill  any  office  that  might  be 
offered  to  him ;  while  as  a  private  citizen,  deeply 
concerned  at  all  times  in  every  measure  affecting  the 
community  interests,  he  has  taken  an  active  part  in 
politics  wherever  he  has  been,  considering  it  his  duty 
not  only  to  cast  his  vote  but  to  use  his  interest  with 
that  party  which  seemed  to  him  to  come  nearest 
toward  a  representation  of  the  public  welfare. 

In  Missouri,  when  only  twenty-six  years  old,  he 
was  a  delegate  of  his  party  to  the  state  convention 
in  1846.  Without  his  knowledge  and  during  his 


GEORGE  HEARST.  393 

absence  he  was  nominated  for  the  state  legislature 
from  San  Francisco  county,  and  was  subsequently 
elected,  and  felt  bound  to  serve  out  the  term  as 
his  constituency  desired.  When  General  Miller  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  senate  by  the  repub 
lican  majority  of  the  California  legislature,  Mr  Hearst 
received  the  complimentary  vote  of  the  democratic 
minority.  Upon  the  death  of  General  Miller  he  was 
appointed  without  his  knowledge  and  during  his 
absence  from  California, by  Governer  Stoneman,  to  fill 
the  unexpired  term  of  the  deceased,  upon  the  expir 
ation  of  which  he  was  elected  by  the  democratic 
majority  of  the  legislature  to  succeed  himself. 

His  career  in  this  body  has  been  independent  and 
straightforward.  He  has  never  allowed  himself  to 
be  compromised  with  interested  parties,  who  might 
desire  either  to  promote  or  hamper  certain  legis 
lation  for  selfish  purposes;  but  has  been  free  to  exercise 
his  judgment,  exert  his  influence,  and  cast  his  vote 
purely  in  the  interests  of  his  constituency,  and  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  of  whom  he  was  a 
representative  not  only  in  name  but  in  fact.  Although 
this  is  not  the  place  perhaps  to  criticise  the 
conduct  of  our  national  legislature,  I  do  but 
reflect  the  general  sentiment  of  the  nation  when  I 
say  that  its  character  and  dignity  would  gain  in  popu 
lar  estimation,  if  all  the  members  were  as  disinter 
ested  and  as  earnest  as  he  to  do  the  right  at  all  times 
for  the  right's  sake,  looking  only  to  the  welfare  of 
the  country  whose  interests  have  been  intrusted  to 
their  wisdom  and  their  conscience. 

Senator  Hearst  has  occupied  a  place  on  three  very 
important  committees — those  on  railroads,  on  Indian 
affairs,  and  on  mines  and  mining.  It  is  as  a  member 
of  these  committees  that  he  has  done  most  of  his  work 
in  the  senate,  bringing  to  bear  his  large  fund  of  infor 
mation  and  devoting  his  entire  time  and  attention  to 
the  consideration  of  the  bills  referred,  discussing, 
amending,  and  presenting  them  for  deliberation  to  the 


394  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

senate  after  painstaking  and  careful  study.  The 
real  labor  of  the  senate  is  in  the  committee  room,  and 
there  Senator  Hearst  displayed  all  the  faithfulness, 
energy,  and  good  judgment  which  have  made  him 
successful  in  his  private  enterprises. 

Beyond  this,  his  manner,  which  is  always  dignified, 
considerate,  and  polite,  endeared  him  to  those  with 
and  for  whom  he  worked  ;  and  above  all  his  constitu 
ency  could  depend  that  all  matters  in  which  they 
were  concerned,  to  say  nothing  of  the  general  affairs 
of  the  nation,  would  be  carefully  considered  on  their 
merits.  The  senator  was  never  a  speech- maker  in 
the  ordinary  sense  of  the  term,  and  being  a  close 
observer  he  saw  that  the  men  who  said  most  were 
not  those  who  carried  the  greatest  weight  or  were 
capable  of  doing  the  most  good.  When  the  occasion 
came  for  him  to  express  his  views  in  opposition  to  a 
hurtful  measure,  or  to  advocate  needed  legislation,  he 
did  so  in  a  brief,  pithy,  business-like  manner ;  and 
was  always  listened  to  with  a  deference  that  gave 
effect  to  his  statements. 

Naturally  he  was  familiar  with  those  economic 
questions  that  have  been  involved  to  a  greater  or  less 
degree  in  his  own  experience ;  but  his  observation 
and  study  have  furthermore  been  such  as  to  give  him 
a  large  fund  of  knowledge  regarding  most  subjects  that 
come  before  the  senate  for  legislation.  Perhaps  the 
most  important  matter  before  congress  in  the  session 
of  1889-90  was  the  silver  question,  on  which  he  was 
thoroughly  at  home,  and  spoke  with  remarkable  clear 
ness  and  cogency. 

"  I  believe  it  to  be  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
country,"  he  said,  "  that  provision  be  made  for  the 
free  coinage  of  silver,  the  coin  itself  or  the  silver 
certificate  being  made  legal  tender.  All  contracts 
have  been  made  with  the  tacit  understanding  that 
gold  and  silver  is  money.  It  is  unquestionably  the 
money  of  our  constitution,  which  is  the  fundamental 
law  of  the  land,  A  demonetization  of  silver  simply 


GEORGE   HEARST.  395 

builds  up  the  creditor  class  at  the  expense  of  the 
debtor,  by  making  it  more  difficult  for  the  latter  to 
meet  his  obligations. 

"  Suppose  for  instance  that  there  are  so  many  hun 
dreds  of  millions  of  dollars  in  our  currency,  gold  and 
silver.  I  build  a  railroad  obligating  myself  to  pay 
twenty  millions  of  dollars.  Capitalists  get  hold  of 
the  bonds  of  this  road  and  go  to  the  legislature  and 
insist  that  they  shall  be  paid  in  gold.  This  is  the 
attitude  that  government  bondholders  stand  in  toward 
the  people.  They  come  before  congress  and  insist 
that  they  shall  be  paid  interest  and  principal  in  gold. 
This  is  not  only  a  blow  at  one  form  of  our  constitu 
tional  money,  but  strikes  at  all  contracts  made  upon 
the  basis  of  silver  as  money. 

"In  other  words  a  comparatively  few  interested 
persons  have  gone  a  great  way  toward  manufacturing 
a  sentiment  against  the  good  hard  white  money  of 
our  fathers,  and  it  is  due  to  their  efforts  principally 
that  silver  was  demonetized.  The  time  has  come  in 
my  opinion  when  in  justice  to  the  wishes  of  the  mass 
of  the  people,  particularly  to  the  debtor,  and  in 
accordance  with  the  best  interests  of  the  whole 
country,  silver  should  be  restored  to  its  place  as 
standard  money,  as  was  contemplated  in  the  constitu 
tion. 

"  It  is  important  to  keep  the  balance  of  trade  in 
favor  of  our  country.  Otherwise  money  becomes 
scarce,  wages  go  down,  and  prices  go  up.  Cattle  and 
corn  are  worth  less  now  than  they  were  fifteen  years 
ago,  yet  there  is  not  so  much  corn  raised  now  as  then, 
and  there  are  twenty  millions  more  of  people  who 
consume  the  crop.  If  silver  is  kept  out  of  circula 
tion  it  becomes  more  difficult  for  the  people  to  make 
money  to  pay  their  debts.  I  believe  that  anything 
that  has  a  tendency  to  reduce  the  volume  of  the 
circulating  medium  is  injurious  to  the  country  at 
large.  In  fact  the  value  of  property  depends  entirely 
upon  the  number  of  dollars  in  circulation.  If  money 


396  OVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

is  plentiful  the  price  of  property  goes  up,  if  there  is 
little  it  goes  down. 

"  The  finding  of  gold,  first  in  California  and  then 
in  Australia,  changed  prices  all  over  the  civilized 
world.  Before  1  went  to  California,  that  is  from 
1842  to  1850,  after  the  breaking  down  of  many  small 
banks,  a  cow  was  worth  about  seven  dollars,  ten 
years  afterward  it  was  worth  twenty-five  dollars.  A 
horse  that  was  then  worth  forty  dollars  rose  in  value 
to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars.  Mortgages 
on  property  were  removed  by  the  appreciation  in 
value.  The  gold  that  was  taken  out  of  the  ground  in 
California  was  put  into  circulation,  and  as  money 
became  abundant  property  became  proportionately 
more  valuable.  The  same  phenomena  occurred  during 
and  just  following  the  war  between  the  states,  when 
an  abundance  of  greenbacks  acted  as  a  stimulus,  and 
resulted  in  the  marvellous  development  of  the  mid 
dle  northwestern  states.  Since  the  war,  however, 
money  has  been  disappearing,  while  the  population 
has  been  growing  larger.  The  country  is  under  a 
great  depression  at  this  time,  so  great  that  the  situa 
tion  is  alarming.  The  farmers  are  getting  deeper 
and  deeper  into  debt,  and  cannot  get  enough  for  their 
products  to  pay  their  way." 

In  regard  to  the  Chinese  question  which,  though 
it  may  appear  to  be  disposed  of  still  threatens 
us  with  international  complications,  it  might  be 
expected  that  Senator  Hearst  should  be  prejudiced  by 
the  clamor  of  those  who,  in  and  out  of  season,  rage 
against  the  Mongolians.  While  he  sees  certain  valu 
able  qualities  in  the  Chinamen,  and  insists  that,  being 
now  in  this  country  and  entitled  to  residence  here,  they 
shall  enjoy  all  the  privileges  guaranteed  to  them  by 
our  government,  he  regards  them  nevertheless  as  unac- 

O  *-? 

ceptable  and  injurious  to  our  people.  His  argument 
is  made  upon  high  and  rational  grounds. 

"  1  think,"  he  remarks,  "  the  Chinese  do  us  a  great 
harm  in  this,  that  while  extremely  industrious  and 


GEORGE  HEARST.  397 

frugal,  and  making  and  saving  a  great  deal  of  money, 
their  purchases  in  this  country  are  so  small  that 
nearly  all  of  it  is  shipped  to  China.  Any  taking  of 
money  out  of  the  country  without  return  is  injurious. 
If  I  am  asked  whether  the  Chinese  as  laborers  are  of 
any  advantage  to  the  country  I  should  say,  'They 
have  been ;'  and  if  I  were  asked  whether  emigration 
from  China  to  America  should  be  prohibited  I  should 
also  say,  emphatically,  'Yes.'  The  Chinese  cannot 
assimilate  and  become  a  homogeneous  part  of  our 
people,  consequently  their  presence  causes  strife. 
There  is  no  ground  of  sympathy  between  white  and 
yellow  laboring  men,  and  I  regard  it  best  for  us  to 
exclude  every  objectionable  element  from  our  popula 
tion. 

"  Xow,  I  believe  that  the  country  should  be  devel 
oped  in  proportion  to  the  population,  and  that  if  devel 
opment  goes  ahead  of  the  labor  supply,  reaction  must 
ensue  to  the  extent  of  this  deficiency.  One  of  the 
great  objections  that  I  have  to  any  further  immigra 
tion  of  Chinamen  is  that  children  can  do  much  of  the 
work  that  they  are  employed  to  do.  For  instance,  if 
there  were  no  Chinamen  in  California,  a  great  deal  of 
the  fruit  that  is  now  gathered  by  them  might  be  har 
vested  by  children.  That  white  children  are  not  so 
employed  now  breeds  idleness,  and  they  grow  up 
without  that  habit  of  industry  which  is  essential  to 
the  well-being  of  every  community.  I  believe  the  time 
will  come  in  California  when  tens  of  thousands  of 
children  will  be  found  working  on  fruit  farms,  making 
easily  a  dollar  a  day.  I  believe  that  in  many  parts 
of  California  children  could  work  in  some  such  way 
for  four  or  five  months  in  the  year,  without  injury  to 
themselves  and  with  great  benefit  in  every  way  to 
their  families  and  the  community ;  for  there  is  ample 
time  during  the  remainder  of  the  year  to  attend 
school  and  be  fairly  instructed  in  the  rudiments  of  an 
English  education. 

O 


398  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

"  I  think,  however,  that  our  restriction  laws  have 
gone  far  enough ;  and  when  the  bill  now  before  the 
senate  becomes  a  law,  providing  that  when  the  next 
census  is  taken  every  Chinaman  will  be  given  a  cer 
tificate  of  residence,  whereby  he  can  be  identified  at 
any  time  afterwards  the  danger  of  others  slipping  in 
over  the  borders  will  be  removed.  If  all  the  China 
men  in  California  were  swept  out  at  once  it  would 
damage,  if  not  ruin,  a  great  many  fruit-growers  and 
others  ;  but  if  they  be  kept  within  the  present  limits 
of  the  law  restricting  emigration,  they  will  disappear 
one  by  one,  and  as  they  go  out  their  places  will  be 
filled  by  the  white  population. 

"  It  has  been  urged  against  the  Chinese  that  their 
habits  are  bad,  that  Chinatown  in  San  Francisco  is  a 
loathsome  place.  This  is  not  untrue,  but  the  picture 
is  sometimes  overdrawn.  As  a  rule  the  Chinaman  is 
cleanly ;  but  in  San  Francisco  the  Chinese  quarter  is 
in  the  nature  of  a  great  hospital,  asylum,  and  poor- 
house,  where  congregate  the  infirm  and  diseased 
Mongolians  from  all  parts  of  the  Pacific  coast. 

"  The  most  serious  objection  I  have  to  them  is  that 
as  manual  laborers  they  hurt  that  class  of  our  people 
with  whom  they  come  into  competition.  The  China 
man's  civilization  is  radically  different  from  ours.  He 
is  very  clever  in  the  use  of  his  hands.  He  imitates 
readily,  and  in  all  light  work  he  is  a  dangerous  com 
petitor;  not  that  he  is  superior  to  the  white  man, 
from  whom  he  learns  quickly  ;  not  because  he  is  more 
industrious  or  faithful  to  his  task  ;  but  because  he  can 
work  for  less.  The  requirements  of  Caucasian  civil 
ization  are  such,  in  America  at  least,  and  I  would  not 
have  them  otherwise,  that  what  a  Chinaman  lives  on 
would  not  keep  a  laboring  white  man  from  starvation. 

"  If  the  Chinese  were  needed  in  California  in  early 
days,  and  this  was  generally  thought  to  be  the  case, 
they  are  not  needed  now.  Coming  to  our  shores  in 
unlimited  numbers  they  would  overwhelm  us,  drive 
our  laborers  to  the  wall,  and  destroy  our  government 


GEORGE  HEARST.  399 

in  time.  This  is  the  serious  aspect  of  the  question. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  harp  upon  their  vicious  and 
degrading  habits,  let  these  be  what  they  may.  The 
issue  should  be  made  on  the  points  which  are  vital 
and  indisputable.  If  the  full  truth  were  made  known 
in  this  respect,  and  exaggeration  discouraged  regard 
ing  the  less  important  details  of  the  matter,  the  east 
would  be  a  unit  with  the  west  on  this  question." 

If  I  had  no  other  evidence  than  this  by  which  to 
judge  of  Mr  Hearst's  qualifications  as  a  senator  of  the 
United  States,  I  should  consider  it  alone  an  excellent 
criterion.  He  thinks  deeply,  without  bias,  and 
expresses  himself  candidly  and  fearlessly.  He  has 
always  been  a  democrat,  but  he  has  never  been  a  par 
tisan.  In  the  main  he  is  a  democrat  because  he 
regards  the  policy  of  that  party  as  best  adapted  to 
promote  the  welfare  of  the  country ;  but  he  does  not 
vote  with  his  party  on  every  question,  because  it  is 
not  his  idea  that  any  political  organization  is  perfect 
in  all  respects ;  and  although  he  is  loyal  to  his  asso 
ciates  in  whatever  position,  it  is  not  consistent  with 
his  appreciation  of  principle  to  do  aught  for  mere 
party's  sake  that  does  not  comport  with  what  is  just 
and  politic. 

Perhaps  no  better  illustration  can  be  given  of 
the  senator's  practical  turn  of  mind  and  of  his 
thorough  familiarity  with  the  needs  of  his  adopted 
state,  than  the  speech  which  he  delivered  in  March 
1890,  when  a  bill  was  before  the  senate  to  grant 
appropriations  for  public  improvements  in  San  Diego. 

"  Mr  President,"  he  said,  "  I  am  sorry  that  any  one 
objects  to  this  bill.  No  doubt  it  appears  a  little 
strange  to  some  to  see  senators  standing  up  here  and 
claiming  anything  for  California,  but  I  desire  to 
inform  the  senate  that  my  state  has  been  sadly 
neglected  in  the  past,  though  perhaps  more  on 
account  of  the  neglect  of  our  representatives  in 
making  known  our  wants  than  from  any  intention 


400  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

on  the  part  of  the  general  government  to  do  us  an 
injustice. 

"  Mr  President,  we  have  been  a  state  for  nearly 
forty  years,  and  we  have  only  one  post-office  building, 
and  that  is  in  San  Francisco.  It  has  to  be  propped 
up  to  keep  it  from  falling.  It  is  built  on  piles  near 
the  water  front,  and  is  entirely  outside  the  centre  of 
population,  totally  unfit  and  wholly  inadequate  to  the 
wants  of  our  present  population,  which  is  now  over 
300,000.  I  feel  this  is  a  disgrace  to  the  government 
and  to  the  city  of  San  Francisco,  where  I  have  the 
honor  to  reside.  You  can  pardon  me  for  feeling  thus 
when  you  reflect  or  call  to  mind  that  California  has 
contributed  to  the  national  treasury  from  its  various 
sources  of  revenue  from  $12,000,000  to  $14,000,000 
annually  during  our  existence  as  a  state.  We  have 
done  more  than  all  this.  We  have  dug  out  of  the  earth 
by  our  energy  and  enterprise  $1,200,000,000  in  gold, 
thereby  creating  that  much  additional  wealth,  which 
went  into  circulation  as  money,  increasing  property 
values  from  100  to  300  per  cent ;  and  further  we 
enabled  the  government  to  pay  its  balances  in  gold 
by  furnishing  them  $40,000,000  or  $50,000,000  a 
year  at  a  time  when  it  was  most  needed. 

"  I  am  glad  so  many  distinguished  senators  have 
visited  my  state  within  the  last  year.  I  have  travelled 
with  several  of  them  all  over  my  state.  We  rode 
together  on  the  beautiful  bay  of  San  Diego,  and 
were  thus  afforded  an  opportunity  of  seeing  its 
magnificent  harbor ;  also  the  beautiful  and  growing 
city  of  San  Diego,  with  its  population  of  30.000.  I 
found  upon  examination  that  the  postal  receipts  of 
San  Diego,  within  the  last  ten  years,  had  grown  from 
practically  nothing  to  the  handsome  sum  of  $60,OCO 
annually,  the  customs  receipts  reaching  to  hundreds 
of  thousands  yearly,  and  the  population  steadily 
increasing.  We  only  ask  the  modest  sum  of  $300,000 
to  purchase  a  site  and  erect  a  building  for  a  post-office, 


GEORGE  HEARST.  401 

custom-house,  and  other  public  uses,  for  a  city  destined 
to  become  one  of  the  largest  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

"  I  would  also  state  that  we  intend  to  present  our 
claims  to  the  senate  for  public  buildings  at  this  session, 
and  to  present  them  for  cities  all  over  my  state  that 
are  justly  entitled  to  them.  We  wish  to  do  it  honestly. 
We  do  not  propose  to  ask  for  $300,000  and  expect 
only  $100,000.  We  expect  to  get  every  dollar  we 
ask,  and  we  will  show  in  every  instance  that  we  are 
entitled  to  it. 

"  I  shall  ask  for  a  post-office  building  for  San 
Francisco,  to  take  the  place  of  the  dilapidated  old 
rookery  you  have  there  now.  I  shall  ask  one  for  the 
beautiful  city  of  San  Jose,  called  the  garden  city, 
situated  in  the  heart  of  the  magnificent  Santa  Clara 
valley.  I  have  asked  you  to  increase  the  appropria 
tion  heretofore  made  for  Los  Angeles,  the  metropolis 
of  southern  California.  I  have  asked  that  a  public 
building  be  given  to  the  city  of  Oakland,  the  Brooklyn 
of  California.  I  have  asked  an  increase  in  the 
appropriation  for  a  public  building  in  Sacramento,  the 
capital  of  our  state.  I  have  asked  that  Stockton, 
situated  in  the  midst  of  as  fine  an  agricultural  country 
as  you  will  find  in  the  world,  be  given  a  public  build 
ing.  I  ask  that  these  appropriations  be  made  because 
of  the  importance  of  these  cities,  and  because  their 
contributions  to  the  government,  and  their  rapidly 
increasing  business  and  population  justly  entitle  them 
to  it.  We  have  other  cities  that  may  claim  your 
attention  hereafter.'' 

Speaking  of  Mr  Hearst  chiefly  as  a  senator, 
EL  \V.  Blair,  the  distinguished  member  from  Xew 
Hampshire,  says  :  "  I  regard  him  as  an  admirable 
character,  and  one  that  will  repay  the  most  careful 
study.  I  think  it  is  well  that  every  effort  be  made 
to  memorialize  the  great  men  who  have  been  the 
principals  in  the  wronderful  development  of  the  west. 
It  seems  to  do  men  good  to  live  by  the  Pacific  ocean. 
I  have  known  Mr  Hearst  only  since  he  took  his  seat 

C.  B.— II.    26 


402  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

in  the  senate,  but  I  began  to  observe  him  at  once,  and 
the  more  I  see  of  him  the  better  I  like  him.  There 
are  other  men  in  the  senate  whom  I  have  known  for  a 
much  longer  time,  but  for  various  reasons,  mainly,  I 
suppose,  for  lack  of  interest  in  them,  I  am  not  so  well 
acquainted  with  them  as  I  am  with  him.  I  should 
say  there  is  a  great  deal  of  good  nature,  actual  nobil 
ity  in  him,  that  which  I  think  is  what  some  call 
personal  magnetism,  for  the  want  of  a  better  name. 
Doubtless  it  is  this,  coupled  with  this  extraordinary 
intellectual  power,  that  causes  me  to  both  enjoy  his 
society  and  admire  the  man.  And  I  am  not  alone 
in  entertaining  this  view  of  him  ;  in  fact,  I  never 
have  known  a  senator  who  so  enjoyed  the  universal 
respect  and  confidence  of  the  members,  his  colleagues, 
as  does  Senator  Hearst.  He  understands  himself 
perfectly  ;  is  modest ;  has  a  remarkable  fund  of  good 
sense  ;  is  independent,  but  always  courteous  and  affa 
ble.  Coming,  as  he  did,  without  the  professional  or 
literary  training  which  is  ordinarily  supposed  to  fit 
men  for  the  national  legislature,  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  he  finds  himself  at  home  and  among  friends 
at  once.  What  he  may  lack  in  knowledge  of  books 
he  supplies  by  his  native  force  of  intellect ;  in  fact,  he 
grasps  the  principles  of  great  national  questions  as 
readily  and  as  thoroughly  as  any  legislator  I  ever 
knew.  With  the  advantages  of  a  more  liberal  educa 
tion  there  would  not  be  another  member  of  the  senate 
who,  in  my  judgment,  could  surpass  him  in  any  respect 
in  which  a  man  is  useful  there,  as  a  statesman,  finan 
cier,  or  general  public  servant.  His  personal  influence 
in  the  senate  is  large.  If  Senator  Hearst  wants  to 
accomplish  anything  for  his  people,  every  other  sena 
tor  will  do  all  he  can  to  help  him  out.  Maybe,  you 
do  not  know  it,  but  this  is,  after  all,  the  true  element 
of  greatness  in  the  United  States  senate,  or  in  any 
other  deliberative  body.  His  force  of  character,  the 
affectionate  regard  in  which  he  is  held,  the  confidence 
felt  in  his  integrity  and  honesty  of  purpose,  outweigh 


GEORGE  HEARST.  403 

every  other  appeal ;  arguments,  speeches,  intrigue,  and 
manipulation  will  often  fail  when  such  qualities  as  he 
has  will  win. 

"  Senator  Hearst  is  retiring  and  makes  few 
speeches.  He  does  not  value  his  ability  as  others 
value  it.  On  the  few  occasions  when  he  has  spoken 
his  remarks  have  been  forcible  and  to  the  point,  and 
he  has  never  yet  failed  to  reach  the  object  aimed  at 
in  a  discourse  in  the  senate.  No  man  is  listened  to 
with  more  consideration  or  closer  attention.  He  is 
really  one  of  nature's  great  men ;  he  takes  a  conti 
nental  view  of  everything.  There  is  nothing  small  or 
pinched  about  him.  If  he  could  be  prevailed  upon  to 
come  more  to  the  front  it  would  be  better  for  his  state 
and  the  country  generally ;  but  I  think  he  is  getting 
to  realize  this  himself.  If  his  senatorial  career  should 
be  prolonged,  it  would  be  for  the  advantage  of  Cali 
fornia  and  the  nation.  His  general  information  is 
wide,  and  no  man  understands  better  than  he  the 
principles  of  the  government.  No  one  compares  with 
him  in  knowledge  of  the  mineral  interests  of  the  coun 
try.  It  is  a  great  advantage  to  the  mineral  region  of 
the  west  to  have  such  a  representative,  one  so  quali 
fied  as  he  is.  He  seems  able  to  see  through  the  solid 
ground  to  the  centre  of  the  earth,  and  spy  out  veins  of 
gold  and  silver  concealed  therein  as  with  a  clairvoy 
ant  power.  He  comprehends  the  money  questions  of 
the  day  as  well  as  any  other  man.  There  is  not  in 
the  senate  a  closer  student  of  the  important  measures 
being  discussed  in  it.  There  is  hardly  a  senator  who 
comes  to  the  vote  on  these  subjects  with  such  a  full 
knowledge  of  everything  that  has  been  said  on  all  sides 
as  Senator  Hearst.  With  his  infinite  good  sense, 
wherewith  to  digest  what  he  hears,  he  seldom  goes 
wrong.  He  is  unwavering  and  tenacious  in  his  opin 
ions.  Nothing  can  shake  him  at  all  in  his  purpose  to 
do  what  he  believes  to  be  right.  He  is  a  good  party 
man,  but  not  a  blind  one.  All  the  senators  are  his 
personal  friends  and  he  is  theirs,  I  am  in  hopes  that 


404  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

he  will  talk  on  the  silver  question  ;  he  can  contribute 
as  much  of  real  value  to  the  debate  on  this  question 
as  any  one  who  has  spoken.  He  knows  all  about  it, 
and  has  his  own  original  views  on  the  subject.  His 
remarks  would  be  practical,  sharp,  clear,  and  useful, 
He  is  withal,  I  take  it,  a  keen  man,  who  understands 
men,  and  is  not  apt  to  be  caught  napping.  I  notice 
traits  of  character  in  him  that  compel  success  and  give 
a  man  position  anywhere.  Without  knowing  the 
details  of  his  factorship  in  the  development  of  the 
Pacific  coast,  I  am  sure,  from  what  I  have  seen  of 
him  in  the  senate,  that  he  must  have  been  a  great 
power,  and  it  seems  only  fit  and  proper  that  his  life 
should  be  carefully  studied  as  a  chief  among  the 
builders  of  your  marvellous  country.  The  senator,  as 
you  are  aware,  entertains ;  he  does  so  magnificently, 
with  royal  generosity.  Mrs  Hearst  is  recognized  as 
a  leader  in  the  society  of  the  capital.  She  leads  with 
out  exciting  the  envy  of  anybody.  She  and  the  sena 
tor  are  the  sort  of  persons  that  poor  people  like  to 
have  rich.  Senator  Hearst  and  Senator  Stanford  are 
•  both  men  of  large  intellectual  stature — big  men  like 
their  state — and  it  is  agreeable  to  note  the  cordial 
relations  existing  between  them." 

o 

And  thus  speaks  C.  K.  Davis,  senator  from 
Nebraska,  who  like  Mr  Blair  is  opposed  to  Senator 
Hearst  in  politics : 

"  I  obtained  my  first  insight  into  the  character  of 
Senator  Hearst  early  in  1888,  in  the  sessions  of  the 
senate  select  committee  upon  the  adjustment  of  the 
debts  of  the  Pacific  railroads  to  the  United  States. 
The  subjects  involved  are,  as  everyone  knows,  of  the 
utmost  complexity  of  fact  and  law ;  comprehending 
figures  which  reach  to  scores  of  millions  of  dollars ; 
events  which  have  been  in  transaction  for  nearly 
thirty  years;  the  actions  of  men  living  and  of  men 
dead ;  censure  and  praise  in  the  same  breath  of  the 
same  persons ;  the  establishment  of  civilization  over 
the  middle  third  of  our  country,  and  the  consolidation 


GEORGE  HEARST.  405 

of  the  east,  the  Mississippi  valley  and  the  Pacific  ter 
ritory  by  those  iron  bands  of  railroad  track  which 
are  stronger  than  any  political  contrivance.  He,  with 
characteristic  reserve,  had  said  little.  I  had  no  per 
sonal  knowledge  of,  and  never  had  any  connection 
with  the  questions  under  consideration,  and  was,  of 
course,  in  need  of  information.  Naturally  enough  I 
addressed  some  inquiries  to  him.  I  found  that  he 
was  completely  informed.  This  did  not  surprise  me> 
for  I  knew  that  in  his  personal  experience  was  com 
prehended  much  of  the  history  of  this  country  west 
of  the  Rocky  mountains.  But  I  found,  in  addition, 
such  soundness  of  judgment,  such  just  conceptions  of 
right  and  wrong,  and  such  argumentative  power  of 
clear,  yet  condensed,  statement,  such  knowledge  of 
human  nature,  such  consideration  for  its  infirmities, 
such  regard  for  its  better  traits,  and  such  contempt 
for  its  meanness,  that  I  was  greatly  attracted  to  him. 

"  Since  then  I  have  yielded  to  this  attraction  on 
every  occasion. 

"He  is,  in  many  respects,  the  most  interesting  man 
I  have  ever  known.  I  rode  with  him  in  1889  across 
the  continent.  Such  journeys  cause  men  to  know 
each  other.  From  the  moment  we  entered  the  valley 
of  the  Platte  he,  in  response  to  my  continued  urgency, 
opened  his  mine  of  reminiscence,  for  he  had  led  in 
1850  one  of  the  detachments  by  which  empire  was 
founded  over  that  route  from  Missouri  to  California. 
We  passed  the  places  where  hope  was  highest;  we 
passed  the  place  where  hope  was  darkened  by  sick 
ness  and  disaster  ;  we  passed  near  the  place  where  the 
long  journey  ended.  I  heard  from  him,  hour  after 
hour,  the  story  of  that  time,  better  and  more  truly 
told  than  I  had  ever  read  it  in  carefully  written  books. 
It  was  as  De  Foe  would  have  told  it  had  he  been 
truthfully  recounting  the  facts  as  his  own  experience. 
^Nothing  was  colored,  nothing  shaded.  There  was  no 
envy,  malice,  or  uncharitableness.  There  was  occa 
sionally  tempered  blame  both  of  himself  and  others, 


406  GOVERNMENT- CALIFORNIA. 

and  frequent  praise  of  others,  but  none  of  himself. 
There  was  abundant  humor  of  the  trail,  the  camp-fire 
and  the  mine,  rendered  in  those  concentrated  phrases 
into  which  the  wit  and  humor  of  few  are  often  coined 
for  the  use  of  all. 

"I  was  struck  with  his  absolute  fairness.  Affection 
and  dislikes  do  not  disturb  his  judgment.  He  speaks 
the  truth.  What  he  knows  is  to  him  a  certainty,  and 
he  states  it  without  reservation.  This  was  very  notice 
able  in  his  narration  of  movements.  But  when  the 
matter  was  not  ot  his  own  knowledge,  his  saying  like 
that  of  Herodotus  was,  'they  tell  me.'" 

In  his  explorations,  which  have  minutely  penetrated 
our  Pacific  territory,  he  has  been  a  close  observer  of 
nature.  The  stream,  the  forest,  and  the  mountain 
have  yielded  to  him  their  secrets.  He  is  typical  of 
a  vanishing  class  of  men,  the  pioneers,  to  whom 
nature  is  very  near  because  they,  natural  and  uncon 
ventional,  have  been  obliged  to  interrogate  her  and  to 
confide  in  her. 

His  perceptive  faculties  are  of  a  very  high  order. 
He  glances  and  sees  where  others  gaze  until  they  are 
blinded.  His  judgment  follows  quickly,  and  it  must 
be  one  of  great  accuracy,  for  he  owes  to  it  his  remark 
able  success  in  life. 

These  are  qualities  to  admire.  There  are  others 
which  excite  a  higher  regard.  These  are  his  chari 
table  construction  of  motives  and  acts  of  others,  his 
abstinence  from  disparagement  of  other  men,  his 
judicious  generosity,  his  immediate  defense  of  any 
friend  when  attacked,  his  intuitive  detection  of  frauds 
and  shams,  his  scorn  of  pharisaism,  and  his  recog 
nition  of  merit. 

Education — using  the  word  in  the  popular  sense — 
has  done  little  for  him,  but  I  have  never  met  a  man 
for  whom  this  deprivation  has  done  more.  Thrown 
upon  his  own  resources,  he  has  derived  from  long  years, 
of  observation  and  experience  a  fund  of  lore  which 
books  could  not  have  taught  him.  That  he  appre- 


GEORGE  HEARST.  407 

ciates  education  and  culture  is  amply  attested  by  his 
pride  in  the  great  acquirements  of  his  wife  in  these 
respects. 

This  testimony  of  his  peers,  and  those  nearest  to 
him  is  most  gratifying  to  the  biographer  who  would 
establish  in  enduring  form  the  life  and  experiences  of 
this  Nestor  of  California — of  the 

"good  old  Chronicle, 
"That  has  so  long  walked  hand  in  hand  with  time." 

Thus  briefly  I  have  endeavored  to  present  in  his 
true  light  the  subject  of  my  study  as  a  representative 
of  the  people,  whose  confidence  he  acquired  and  held 
through  many  years  in  his  wide  relation  with  them 
as  a  private  citizen,  and  whose  trust  in  him  is  con 
firmed  by  his  faithful  discharge  of  duty  toward  them 
as  a  public  servant  in  an  office  which  is  next  to  the 
highest  that  they  have  within  their  gift. 

Senator  Hearst  incidentally  has  been  engaged  in 
agriculture  and  stock-raising  in  California,  and  at  this 
time  owns  a  rancho  of  45,000  acres  near  Monterey, 
devoted  to  dairy  purposes  mainly,  but  which  he  has 
stocked  with  choice  horses  and  cattle.  This  he  has 
regarded  rather  in  the  light  of  a  diversion,  but  he  has 
taken  much  interest  in  it,  having  been  born  and 
reared  on  a  farm.  The  results  of  his  stock-breeding, 
though  not  so  wide  nor  conspicuous  as  those  attained 
by  Senator  Stanford  or  Mr  Haggin,  have  been  very 
beneficial  generally  and  very  gratifying  to  himself, 
as  developing  an  important  source  of  wealth  and  pros 
perity,  his  stud  containing  some  of  the  best  bred 
horses  in  the  world. 

The  senator's  identification  with  journalism  on  the 
Pacific  coast  is  a  rather  interesting  and  suggestive 
episode  in  his  career.  He  is  a  man  to  whom  his 
friends  appeal  for  aid  with  the  assurance  of  getting  it. 
Leaders  of  the  democratic  party  in  whom  he  had 
confidence  came  to  him  and  desired  a  subscription 
toward  starting  an  able  democratic  journal  in  the 


408  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

metropolis.  As  singular  as  it  may  seem,  for  years 
the  democrats  had  been  almost  without  an  exponent 
of  their  doctrines.  In  reply  he  said : 

"  There  is  no  use  to  do  that,  why  not  buy  up  the 
old  Examiner?" 

The  Examiner,  at  that  time  an  evening  paper,  had 
been  a  thoroughly  reliable  and  respectable  journal, 
but  had  only  a  small  circulation  and  slight  influence. 
They  fell  in  with  this  suggestion  ;  but  the  senator 
found  before  long  that  instead  of  contributing  to,  he 
was  to  furnish  all  the  sinews  of  war.  Said  he  : 

"  When  I  had  paid  for  it  and  went  to  look  over  the 
property  it  looked  to  me  a  good  deal  like  a  quartz 
mill,  and  I  thought  it  was  going  to  take  lots  of  money 
to  manage  it.  The  '  boys '  said  they  would  attend  to 
that ;  that  they  would  turn  it  into  a  morning  paper, 
and  it  would  not  cost  more  than  twelve  or  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  to  put  it  on  a  paying  basis.  It  ran 
on  for  a  year,  more  or  less,  when  one  day  I  found  out 
that  the  institution  was  worth  $65,000  less  than 
nothing.  Then  I  was  in  for  it,  sure  enough.  The 
paper  was  losing  from  two  to  three  thousand  dollars 
a  month,  but  I  could  not  think  of  dropping  it  after 
it  had  absorbed  so  much  money,  especially  as  the 
presidential  election  was  coming  on,  and  the  party 
needed  to  have  a  paper  so  much. 

"  When  my  son  graduated  from  Harvard,  and  the 
Examiner  had  cost  me  a  quarter  of  a  million  of  dollars, 
he  told  me  that  he  wanted  to  try  his  hand  at  it.  I 
tried  to  dissuade  him,  and  offered  any  other  start  in 
my  power,  but  I  could  not  budge  him.  This  he 
thought  was  the  best  opportunity  to  utilize  his  educa 
tion.  I  did  not  realize  the  boy's  grit.  Besides,  so 
many  others  ahead  of  him,  who  promised  well,  had 
failed,  and  I  was  afraid  the  job  would  get  the  best  of 
him  too.  But  he  had  his  own  ideas  about  it.  He 
believed  that  the  reason  the  paper  did  not  pay  was 
because  it  was  not  the  best.  '  Make  it  the  best,'  said 
he,  'and  it  will  pay.'  I  made  him  out  a  deed  of  the 


GEORGE  HEARST.  409 

whole  property  from  top  to  bottom,  and  agreed  to 
stand  by  him  for  two  years.  Before  the  Examiner 
reached  a  paying  basis  it  had  cost  me  from  six  to 
seven  hundred  thousand  dollars.  To-day  I  believe  it 
is  worth  upwards  of  a  million." 

The  senator's  son,  William  Hearst,  coming  as  he 
did  fresh  from  college  and  without  a  day's  actual 
experience  in  the  craft  to  create  a  standard  of  journal 
ism  on  the  Pacific  coast,  among  rivals  who  were  very 
active  and  already  highly  successful,  and  tenaciously 
working  out  the  task  to  complete  success,  if  judged  by 
the  common  standard,  evinced  a  strength  of  purpose 
and  an  adaptability,  which,  to  say  the  least,  is  exceed 
ingly  rare.  The  Examiner,  from  the  ordinary  point 
of  view,  to  say  the  least  is  a  wonderful  newspaper,  a 
marvel  of  enterprise,  and  most  conspicuous  in  United 
States  journalism. 

William  was  born  in  California  in  1863.  His  pre 
liminary  education  was  derived  from  his  mother.  He 
attended  a  public  school  in  San  Francisco,  and,  later, 
St  Paul's  school  in  New  Hampshire.  His  studies 
were  supervised  throughout  by  his  mother,  who 
accompanied  him  to  Cambridge,  and  was  his  com 
panion  there  during  the  four  years  of  his  college 
course.  From  the  first  he  was  fond  of  study,  and  was 
also  a  most  intelligent  student,  grasping  ideas  firmly 
and  quickly.  His  memory  was  unusually  retentive, 
and  as  he  has  read  largely  and  carefully  his  mind 
became  well  stored  with  the  treasures  of  a  wide  range 
of  standard  literature. 

He  evinced  at  college  a  special  gift  for  mathematics, 
and  was  remarkably  clear  and  concise  in  demonstra 
tion.  Professor  Pierce,  of  mathematical  fame,  spoke 
in  a  specially  complimentary  manner  of  the  young 
man's  ability  in  this  study.  During  his  last  year  at 
college  he  had  it  constantly  in  mind  to  build  up  the 
Examiner,  though  it  should  be  a  lifetime  task,  and 
to  make  it  the  great  newspaper  of  the  west,  and  he 
framed  his  studies  somewhat  with  reference  to  that 


410  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

purpose.  His  idea  was  not  to  make  of  himself  a  great 
editor,  but  to  accomplish  in  American  journalism  what 
the  genius  of  Delano  achieved  in  England  by  raising 
the  London  Times  to  a  position  far  in  advance  of  all 
its  contemporaries. 

For  one  so  young  to  have  already  accomplished 
such  a  remarkable  work,  and  still  to  labor  unceasingly 
to  improve  what  he  has  already  done,  does  him 
great  credit  as  a  representative  of  the  character  and 
talent  of  the  native  sons  of  the  golden  state.  He  is 
still  swallowed  up  in  his  work,  feeling  that  he  has  only 
begun.  He  is  the  only  child  of  Senator  and  Mrs 
Hearst,  partaking  of  the  strong  features  of  both,  yet 
possessing  a  most  decided  individuality  of  his  own. 

Thus,  as  briefly  as  possible,  consistent  with  my  pur 
pose  to  look  into  the  life  work  and  character  of  this 
conspicuous  personage,  in  accordance  with  the  facts  of 
his  experience,  and  such  other  expressions  of  his  indi 
viduality  as  are  required  to  make  the  picture  of  a  man 
faithful  and  just,  I  have  discussed  his  acts  and  their 
consequences. 

Upon  him  have  depended  many  others.  Through 
him  these  have  found  the  opportunity  of  honest  labor 
going  to  the  support  of  families  and  the  education  of 
children.  His  conquests  have  been  large  and  varied, 
and  they  have  been  at  every  point  the  conquests  of 
peace  and  civilization.  Building  up  always  and  never 
tearing  down,  his  life,  considered  from  any  material  or 
social  point  of  view,  has  been  nothing  else  than  a 
blessing  to  his  fellow  men. 

Those,  and  those  only,  who  have  had  frequent  and 
various  opportunities  to  observe  Senator  Hearst  can 
form  any  adequate  idea  of  him.  It  is  safe  to  say  that 
nothing  less  than  a  long  intimacy  and  personal  asso 
ciation  with  him  will  enable  the  student  to  realize  the 
strength  and  charm  of  his  character.  He  is  not  a 
surface  man;  his  qualities  are  not  superficial.  He 
grows  with  acquaintance.  He  does  not  exhaust  him 
self  in  a  few  interviews.  He  has  a  reserve  force 


GEORGE  HEARST.  411 

which  enables  him  to  respond  to  the  occasion,  what 
ever  it  is ;  the  size  of  this  reservoir  of  strength  you 
can  have  no  estimate  of  until  you  have  seen  it  drawn 
upon  repeatedly  and  find  it  nevertheless  always  full. 
Like  one  of  the  mountains  of  California  viewed  from 
a  distance  through  a  cloudless  atmosphere,  he  increases 
in  size  as  you  get  nearer  to  him.  Seeing  him  stand- 
inir  out,  at  first,  only  a  bold  outline,  you  find  him 
revealing  interesting  and  new  features  as  you  approach 
him.  After  you  have  looked  into  his  mind  and  heart 
from  every  available  point  of  view,  with  the  aid  of 
every  light  that  can  be  obtained,  you  wonder  if  you 
may  ever  hope  to  comprehend  him  in  the  fullness  and 
variety  of  his  characteristic  traits.  An  indication 
here,  a  representation  there,  never  apparent  before 
because  nothing  occurred  to  call  attention  to  it,  proves 
to  be  a  "  leader,"  which,  if  faithfully  studied  and  ana 
lyzed,  is  found  to  run  down  and  open  into  a  true  fis 
sure  vein,  an  intellectual  and  moral  bonanza.  Like  the 
great  mines  which  he  himself  has  explored  from  the 
grass  roots  down  to  extraordinary  depths,  he  yields 
pay  ore  as  far  below  the  surface  as  the  student  can 
delve  into  his  "  formation."  The  majority  of  men,  as 
the  majority  of  mines,  in  the  expressive  phraseology 
of  mining,  though  they  may  show  the  most  flattering 
prospect  at  or  near  the  surface,  "  peter  out "  with 
depth.  Deep  mines,  therefore,  like  deep  men,  are 
difficult  to  understand  and  appreciate  ;  while  shallow 
mines  and  shallow  men  are  easily  understood,  they 
consist  mainly  of  "croppings."  The  great  man,  like 
the  great  mine,  holds  out,  yielding  his  riches  accord 
ing  to  the  demand  upon  him.  He  himself  may  not 
be  conscious  of  his  own  resources,  those  nearest  him 
may  be  unaware  of  his  strength,  but  when  the  emer 
gency  confronts  him  he  is  equal  to  it.  A  critic  of 
Daniel  O'Connell  said  he  wished  the  great  Irish  ora 
tor  would  just  exert  himself  once,  in  order  to  show 
what  he  could  do  :  "  O  !"  said  he,  "  if  he  would  only 
let  out  another  link  or  two."  But  the  truth  was 


412  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

that  O'Connell  held  his  audiences  under  complete 
sway  without  taxing  his  powers  to  extremity,  and  it 
was  his  untaxed  reserve  force  which  constituted  his 
marvellous  control  over  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men  ; 
had  he  brought  it  to  bear  upon  them  they  could  not 
have  endured  it.  They  would  have  been  driven  into 
frenzy.  Those  possess  the  genius  of  command  who 
govern  with  ease.  Back  of  the  strength  that  they 
put  forth,  their  latent  power,  which  is  developed  to 
the  degree  required  by  friction,  makes  men  respect, 
admire,  fear,  and  obey  them.  In  other  words,  the 
man  of  ample  reserve  strength  is  the  controlling,  also 
the  creating,  factor  among  his  fellows  ;  their  vitality 
is  expended  in  a  single  effort ;  his  vigor  expands  to 
the  requirements  of  the  occasion,  whatever  they  may 
be,  and  is  rather  stimulated  than  impaired  for  meeting 
still  greater  drafts  upon  it. 

Senator  Hearst's  reserve  manifests  itself  in  various 
ways.  One  of  the  phases  under  which  it  appears  is 
his  not  telling  all  he  knows.  There  is  always  some 
thing  more  that  he  could  say  if  he  wished  to  or 
thought  best,  but  which  will  be  better  if  spoken  later 
or  left  unsaid  altogether,  as  his  judgment  dictates. 
He  will  discuss  a  subject  apparently  very  fully  to-day ; 
to-morrow  he  will  talk  about  it  just  as  well,  perhaps 
better,  making  it  as  instructive  and  agreeable  as 
though  he  presented  it  for  the  first  time.  There  is 
good  soil  in  his  mind,  and  any  seed  planted  there 
grows.  He  understands  men ;  he  takes  their  meas 
ure,  I  should  say,  very  accurately,  but  he  is  wise 
enough  not  to  publish  his  opinions  of  people. 

A  superficial  observer  might  suspect  that  those 
with  whom  he  comes  in  contact  know  more  about 
him  than  he  does  about  them ;  and,  perhaps,  that  he 
may  be  more  influenced  by  them  more  than  they  by 
him.  He  may  help  out  such  a  supposition  by  good 
naturedly  allowing  people  to  enjoy  a  fanciful  sense 
of  superior  wisdom  and  importance,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  has  them  weighed  and  measured. 


GEORGE  HEARST.  413 

Without  much  wear  and  tear  he  does  a  vast  deal  of 
work  by  other  heads  and  hands ;  he  multiplies  him 
self  in  them.  The  success  with  which  he  has  done 
this  for  years,  and  his  ability  to  pluralize  himself 
again  and  again  in  every  new  enterprise  or  requisition 
upon  his  intellectuality  amounts  to  nothing  less  than 
genius. 

You  may  if  you  please  talk  at  much  length 
and  with  great  particularity,  perhaps,  upon  a  subject 
which  you  may  not  think  he  has  not  given  any  atten 
tion  to.  He  is  a  good  listener.  When  you  get 
through,  perhaps  he  will,  through  his  originality  into 
the  matter  which  you  have  laboriously  presented, 
and  in  a  few  words,  condense  all  that  need  be  said 
about  it  and  give  it  a  life  and  spirit  peculiar  to  his 
own  thinking.  You  may  talk  ever  so  well,  but  if  your 
ideas  or  expressions  are  such  as  men  generally  have 
and  use,  his  will  be  a  contribution  to  the  discourse, 
because  they  are  distinctly  his  own,  and  all  the  more 
agreeable  on  account  of  his  individuality  which  comes 
out  in  thorn.  Those  who  make  social  questions  a 
study,  and  go  pretty  deeply  into  the  good  and  evil, 
the  right  and  the  wrong,  regarding  the  relations  of 
people  to  one  another  in  the  complex  conditions  of 
our  society,  will  find  that  he,  though  having  but 
slight  regard  for  mere  form  or  outward  appearance, 
cuts  through  dress  and  flesh  into  the  heart  of  a  propo 
sition  when  a  principle  or  law  of  manhood  or  woman 
hood  is  involved. 

Studied  for  its  moral  effect,  the  force  of  his  living 
has  been  of  not  less  consequence  than  in  its  agency 
in  the  development  of  industry  in  which  he  has 
carried  forward  alonoj  with  himself  and  enriched  to  a 

o 

greater  or  less  degree  many  who  owe  all  that  they 
have  and  have  enjoyed  to  his  enterprise  and  aggres 
sive  energy.  He  began  to  battle  with  the  world 
equipped  not  with  the  finish  of  the  schools  but  with 
the  character  which  is  superior  to  every  source  of 
artificial  help,  Reproducing  in  himself  the  virtues  of 


414  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

a  strong  and  respectable  ancestry,  inheriting  directly 
the  sterling  traits  of  a  wise  and  good  mother,  whose 
counsels  have  been  his  guide  through  life,  he  went 
forth  brave,  self-reliant,  and  honest. 

Heaven  helps  those  who  help  themselves  it  is  true, 
and  in  this  saying  is  comprised  a  world  of  valuable 
human  experience  ;  but  after  all  a  man's  great  helper 
is  himself.  The  heaven  that  helps  is  his  own  integrity 
and  faithfulness  in  the  employment  of  his  talent.  It 
matters  little,  especially  in  a  country  of  free  institu 
tions  like  ours,  how  a  man  starts.  Opportunities 
abound  for  those  who  have  the  faculty  to  perceive 
them  and  the  ability  to  embrace  them.  The  ideas 
that  are  born  in  a  man,  and  are  happily  exercised  by 
him  upon  those  problems  for  which  nature  has  given 
him  the  ability  to  solve,  make  him  great.  Aristocracy 
of  birth  has  its  advantages,  aristocracy  of  wealth 
may  confer  power ;  but  the  aristocracy  of  character 
is  above  all.  This  asserts  itself  and  is  progressive 
while  every  other  form  of  aristocracy,  being  adventi 
tious  and  uncertain,  is  inherently  weak  and  sooner 
or  later  must  fall. 

A  revolution  in  society  is  going  on  continuously  ; 
human  nature  rearranging  itself  in  strata,  sometimes 
slowly  through  the  ages  but  occasionally  by  great 
shocks  and  convulsions.  Power  lies  concealed  in 
individuality,  and  this  individuality  on  occasions  rises 
superior  to  artifice  and  becomes  dominant  by  virtue 
of  its  inherent  quality  and  irrepressible  character. 
Cultivation  is  fortunately  very  often  of  secondary 
importance,  and  it  would  seem  that  an  unimpared  and 
undisturbed  nature  is  the  best  when  asserting  itself 
in  its  own  peculiar  way  to  accomplish  broad  results. 

Perhaps  at  some  remote  age  a  system  of  education 
will  be  devised  by  which  the  mental  powers  will  be 
so  naturally  evoked,  or  led  forth,  that  a  man  will  grow 
to  perfect  vigor  and  absolute  symmetry,  as  does  the 
oak  in  the  forest,  in  response  to  the  kindly  influences 
of  the  chemicals  in  the  earth  prepared  for  its  nourish- 


GEORGE  HEARST.  415 

ment  and  the  genial  warmth  and  light  of  the  sun. 
While  waiting  however  for  this  consummation 
devoutly  to  be  wished,  we  have  instances  of  growth 
in  manhood  that  make  it  certain  that  to  the  extent 
of  our  native  ability,  and  the  vigor  of  our  own 
endeavors,  we  may  attain  to  almost  precisely  that 
position  of  usefulness  and  influence  in  society  that  we 
are  capable  of,  regardless  of  the  aid  of  school  culture, 
or  any  other  conventional  training  whatever,  except 
in  so  far  as  it  may  be  required  and  appropriated  by 
those  who,  feeling  its  need,  make  themselves  master 
of  it  to  the  extent  to  which  they  require  it. 

It  is  a  trite  saying,  but  one  nevertheless  which 
holds  universally  good,  that  where  there  is  a  will 
there  is  a  way.  From  the  barber-shop  came  Jeremy 
Taylor,  the  most  poetical  of  divines ;  Sir  Richard 
Arkwright,  the  inventor  of  the  spinning  jenny  and 
the  founder  of  cotton  manufacture  ;  Lord  Tenterden 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  lord  chief 
justices ;  Turner  the  greatest  among  landscape 
painters.  Distinguished  and  valuable  men  have 
come  from  the  shoemaker's  bench.  From  the  tailor- 
shop,  Andrew  Johnson  may  be  mentioned ;  a  man 
who  though  at  this  day  not  fully  understood  and 
appreciated  by  his  countrymen,  possessed  an  extra 
ordinary  force  of  character  and  vigor  of  intellect 
united  with  unquestioned  honesty  of  purpose.  In 
his  great  speech  in  Washington  when  reverting  to 
the  beginning  and  the  culmination  of  his  political 
career,  a  voice  in  the  crowd  cried,  "  From  a  tailor 
up."  It  wras  characteristic  of  Johnson  to  take  the 
intended  sarcasm  good  naturedly  and  he  turned  it  to 
account.  "  Some  gentleman  says  I  have  been  a  tailor, 
that  does  not  disconcert  me,  for  when  I  was  a  tailor  I 
enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  a  good  workman  and 
making  close  fits.  I  was  always  punctual  with  my 
customers  and  always  did  good  honest  work." 

"Had  I  been  rich,"  said  Lagrange,the  astronomer 


416  GOVERNMENT- CALIFORNIA. 

and  mathematician,  "  I  should  probably  never  have 
been  a  student." 

The  men  of  control  in  every  department  of  life,  in 
the  United  States,  are  in  the  majority  men  who  are 
commonly  called  self-made.  The  question  has  often 
forced  itself  upon  me  whether  these  men  would  not 
have  been  less  strong  and  less  useful  if  they  had  not 
followed  the  course  of  their  own  individuality,  arid 
had  not  made  their  struggle  in  the  world  with  the 
force  of  their  nature  and  the  elasticity  of  their  wits 
unmodified  and  unimpaired.  From  the  life  of  George 
Hearst,  whom  I  place  unhesitatingly  among  the  most 
original,  most  useful  and  able  factors  that  have  con 
tributed  in  so  large  a  measure  to  the  creation  of 
empire  in  western  North  America,  lessons  are  to  be 
learned  that  are  of  value  to  young  men  in  every 
station.  Let  those  who  presume  too  much  upon  the 
assistance  and  cooperation  of  others  realize  that 
actual  merit,  painstaking  labor,  patience,  and  determi 
nation  are  adequate  for  any  accomplishment  ;  and 
realizing  this  be  mindful  also  of  the  fact  that  there  is 
no  other  dependency  that  it  is  safe  to  rely  upon. 

Let  on  the  other  hand  the  thousands  of  poor  and 
struggling  young  men  throughout  our  own  country, 
and  the  world,  look  to  him  for  encouragement  and 
comfort ;  for  although  it  is  unlikely  that  many  of 
them  will  ever  be  able  to  accomplish  a  work  similar 
to  his  in  volume  or  character,  yet  they  may  all  feel 
stronger  and  consequently  do  better  by  considering  his 
experience,  and  holding  up  to  their  minds  the  things 
reasonably  possible  to  them  if  they  emulate  his 
example,  and  enter  fully  into  the  spirit  of  his  pur 
pose,  which  has  brought  him  from  a  small  farm  in 
pioneer  Missouri  to  the  foremost  place  in  mining  in 
the  United  States,  and  incidentally  in  recognition  of 
his  merit  and  character  made  him  a  representative 
of  his  adopted  state  in  the  upper  house  of  our 
national  legislature. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

LIFE  OF  LORENZO  SAWYER. 

THE  CALIFORNIA  JUDICIARY  — ANCESTRY  AND  PARENTAGE  — A  GOLDEN 
WEDDING  —  EARLY  CAREER  —  STUDY  OF  THE  LAW  —  OVERLAND 
JOURNEY — HISTORIC  LAW-BOOKS  — AT  NEVADA  CITY  —  IN  SAN  FRAN 
CISCO  DISTRICT  COURT  JUDGE  —  CHIEF  JUSTICE  —  CIRCUIT  COURT 
JUDGE — PROFESSIONAL  VIEWS  AND  DECISIONS — GRAND  LODGE  ORA 
TION — THE  STANFORD  UNIVERSITY — THE  CENTRAL  PACIFIC — CAREER 
AND  CHARACTER. 

THE  real  strength  of  a  nation,  it  has  been  well 
remarked,  consists  less  in  the  efficiency  of  her  armies, 
or  in  the  honesty  and  ability  of  her  law-givers,  than 
in  the  character  of  her  judiciary.  Certain  it  is  that 
the  advantages  of  a  republican  government  and 
of  liberal  institutions  are  but  imperfectly  enjoyed 
when  there  does  not  also  exist  a  wholesome  respect 
not  only  for  the  majesty  of  the  law,  but  for  the  min 
isters  of  the  law.  In  all  the  economy  of  civilization 
there  is  perhaps  no  more  potent  agency  than  a  pure, 
impartial,  and  intelligent  administration  of  justice. 
Nowhere  does  the  page  of  human  history  contain 
more  instructive  lessons  than  that  whereon  have 
been  written  and  expounded  the  ethics  of  the 
law.  From  such  material  it  is  that  national  great 
ness  is  fabricated,  by  such  influences  that  it  is  pre 
served. 

And  what  shall  be  said  as  to  our  California  judi 
ciary,  whose  existence,  compared  with  that  of  older 
communities,  is  but  of  yesterday?  If  in  its  earlier 
history  there  were  men  who  gave  cause  for  reprcach, 
men  whose  lax  and  corrupt  administration  compelled 

OB.— II.    27  (417) 


4IP  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

the  people  to  arise  in  their  majesty,  and  execute  with 
their  own  hands  the  justice  which  its  ministers  denied, 
all  this  has  long  since  passed  away.  In  their  place 
are  men  whose  integrity  has  never  been  doubted, 
whose  ability  has  never  been  questioned,  and  on 
whose  decisions  the  public  are  content  to  rely.  If 
we  have  not  as  yet  among  us  such  judicial  luminaries 
as  were  Coke  and  Mansfield  in  England,  as  were 
Marshall  and  Story  in  the  eastern  states,  there  are 
not  a  few  whose  pure  and  able  interpretation  of  the 
law,  whose  comprehensive  grasp  of  its  principles, 
have  gained  for  them  a  national,  if  not  a  world-wide, 
reputation.  Such  a  man  is  Lorenzo  Sawyer,  formerly 
chief  justice  of  California,  and  for  many  years  United 
States  circuit  judge. 

From  the  shire  of  Lincoln,  England,  where  for 
years  was  the  ancestral  home  of  the  Sawyers, 
Thomas  and  his  two  brothers  were  the  first  of  the 
name  to  migrate  to  the  western  world.  About  six 
teen  years  after  the  Mayflower  cast  anchor  in  Ply 
mouth  harbor,  their  names  were  enrolled  among  the 
first  colonists  of  Rowley,  Massachusetts,  whence^  in 
1647,  Thomas  removed  to  Lancaster,  in  the  western 
portion  of  the  colony.  Here  he  was  one  of  a  party 
of  five  by  whom  the  settlement  was  founded,  and  with 
John  Prescott  and  Ralph  Houghton,  also  among  its 
pioneers,  was  appointed  a  few  years  later  one  of  the 
"prudential  men"  to  whom  all  local  authority  was 
intrusted.  Himself  a  man  of  note,  John  Prescott  was 
the  ancestor  of  some  of  the  most  noted  men  in  New 
England  annals,  among  them  being  Colonel  Prescott, 
who  commanded  at  Bunker  hill,  and  William  Pres 
cott,  and  William.  H.  Prescott  the  historian  of  Mexico 
and  Peru.  He  was  also  the  ancestor  cf  the  present 
United  States  senators,  Philetus  Sawyer,  F.  Hoar, 
and  William  M.  Evarts  ;  and  of  the  former  United 
States  senator  and  attorney-general,  E.  Rockwood 
Hoar.  No  less  distinguished  were  the  descendants 
of  his  son-in-law,  Thomas  Sawyer,  many  of  whom 


LORENZO  SAWYER  419 


played  a  leading  part  in  the  war  of  independence,  and 
the  war  of  1812,  no  less  than  nineteen  of  the  Lancas 
trian  Sawyers  serving  in  the  former,  and  it  need  not 
be  said  in  the  ranks  of  the  patriots. 

In  1636,  when  Thomas  Sawyer  first  set  foot  on  the 
shores  of  Massachusetts,  Charles  I.  was  still  on  the 
throne,  Cromwell  had  but  just  entered  upon  his 
career,  and  England  was  on  the  eve  of  the  great  inter 
national  conflict  which  ended  with  Naseby  and  the 
tragedy  of  Whitehall.  Since  that  date  six  genera 
tions  of  the  Sawyer  family  have  been  gathered  to  theii 
rest,  and  though  much  of  their  history  has  been  lost, 
that  which  remains  wrill  prove  an  invaluable  legacy 
to  their  descendants,  not  only  as  a  record  of  ances 
tral  virtues,  but  as  an  incentive  to  generations  yet 
to  be. 

Of  the  eleven  children  of  Thomas  Sawyer,  whose 
decease  occurred  at  Lancaster,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
eight,  his  eldest  son,  also  named  Thomas,  was  car 
ried  captive  by  the  Indians  to  Canada,  and  there  with 
his  son  Elias,  who  shared  his  captivity,  built  the  first 
sawmill  as  the  price  of  his  liberation  by  the  governor. 
Of  the  two  sons  of  Elias  Sawyer,  the  younger,  named 
Elisha,  was  born  at  Lancaster  in  1720,  and  fifty  years 
later  ended  his  days  at  Sterling,  Massachusetts,  where 
certain  lands  and  tenements,  then  for  the  first  time 
occupied  by  the  family,  had  been  left  to  him  as  a  berit- 
ao-e  from  his  grandfather.  Among;  his  twelve  children 

o  O  " 

was  one  named  Thomas,  the  child  of  his  second  wife, 
and  a  native  of  Sterling,  whence  about  1789  he 
removed  to  Plymouth,  Vermont.  At  Sterling  were 
born  to  him  four  sons  and  two  daughters,  and  at  Ply 
mouth  four  sons  and  one  daughter,  among  the  latter 
being  Jesse,  the  father  of  Lorenzo  Sawyer.  Numer 
ous,  though  widely  dispersed  are  his  descendants  of 
the  second  and  third  generations,  and  still  more  num 
erous  and  widely  scattered  are  other  branches  of  the 
family.  Not  a  few  of  its  members  are  numbered 
among  the  most  prominent  citizens  cf  Boston,  where 


420  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

in  1851  a  society  was  formed  with  Frederick  W. 
Sawyer  as  president,  to  collect  such  records  as 
remained  of  this  ancient  and  time-honored  race. 

From  Plymouth,  Vermont,  Thomas  Sawyer,  the 
grandfather  of  Lorenzo,  removed  to  what  was  then 
known  as  the  Black  river  country,  in  northern  New 
York,  the  journey  occupying  seventeen  days,  or 
three  times  the  time  that  is  now  required  for  a  trip 
across  the  continent.  Here  on  a  Saturday  after 
noon,  in  the  opening  year  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
he  reached  the  present  sight  of  Watertown,  in  Jeffer 
son  county,  and  selected  as  his  homestead  a  piece  of 
forest  land.  On  the  Sabbath  he  built  for  himself  a 
cabin,  in  which,  or  in  the  more  commodious  struct 
ure  that  took  its  place,  he  and  some  of  his  descend 
ants  have  ever  since  resided.  The  widow  of 
Laurentius,  his  great-grandson,  and  her  two  sons  was 
its  occupant  in  April  1890,  when  Lorenzo  last  visited 
it.  Near  by  in  the  now  city  of  Watertown  stands  the 
edifice  of  the  first  presbyterian  church,  organized  in 
1801  by  Thomas  Sawyer  and  others,  and  of  which  the 
former  was  a  deacon,  though  long  before  this  date  his 
house,  wherever  located,  was  always  open  for  the 
assembling  of  the  devout.  His  death  occurred  in 
1825,  and  his  wife,  nee  Susanna  Wilder,  survived  him 
by  nearly  a  score  of  years,  outliving  her  ninety-first 
birthday.  She  was  a  woman  of  remarkable  energy  and 
force  of  character,  supplying  the  place  of  a  physician, 
not  only  in  Watertown  but  in  several  adjoining  settle 
ments.  To  all  her  neighbors  she  was  endeared  by  her 
kindness  of  heart,  and  with  her  grandchildren  was  an 
especial  favorite.  On  parting  with  them,  as  one  after 
aiother  went  forth  to  make  his  way  in  the  world,  her 
advice  was :  "  Be  a  friend  to  everyone,  and  you  will 
ii3 ver  want  a  friend  yourself." 

Plymouth,  Vermont,  was,  as  I  have  said,  the  birth 
place  of  Jesse  Sawyer,  the  father  of  Lorenzo,  and  the 
day  the  24th  of  May  1796.  Removing  with  the  fam 
ily  to  Watertown  when  four  years  of  age,  after  rcceiv- 


LORENZO   SAWYER.  421 

ig  such  education  as  the  district  schools  afforded,  he 
>egan  his  career  as  a  farmer,  which  calling  he  followed 
throughout  his  lifetime,  though  with  many  changes 
of  location.  Soon  after  attaining  to  man's  estate  we 
find  him  settled  at  Huntingtonville,  near  which,  at 
the  town  of  La  Kay,  named  after  a  French  count  who 
purchased  there  a  large  estate,  Lorenzo,  the  oldest  of 
his  six  children,  was  born  on  the  23d  of  May  1820. 
In  1835  he  exchanged  his  farm  in  that  locality  for 
one  of  six  hundred  acres  in  northern  Pennsylvania, 
and  as  most  of  it  was  timber  land  erected  there 
a  sawmill.  Thence  a  few  years  afterward  he  removed 
to  Ohio,  and  still  later  to  Illinois.  In  his  vocation 
he  was  fairly  successful,  as  could  not  fail  to  be  the 
case  with  a  man  of  his  strong  intelligence  and  force 
of  character.  Together  with  his  wife,  nee  Elizabeth 
Goodell,  a  cousin  of  the  celebrated  missionary, 
William  Goodell,  he  had  joined  the  presbyterian 
church,  was  a  sincere  and  earnest  Christian,  and  dur 
ing  the  religious  revivals  in  northern  New  York, 
beginning  in  1822,  extended  to  its  promoters  his  sym 
pathy  and  aid.  But  perhaps  the  best  description  that 
can  be  given  of  the  career  of  Mr  and  Mrs  Jesse 
Sawyer  is  contained  in  the  following  extracts  from  the 
address  of  their  son,  Joel  Swain,  at  the  celebration 
of  their  golden  wedding  at  Belvidere,  Illinois,  on 
the  llth  of  February  1869  : 

"You  accepted  the  conditions  of  a  laborious  life, 
encountered  its  difficulties,  endured  its  hardships,  and 
sustained  its  burdens  with  the  most  exemplary  cour 
age  and  fortitude,  never  yielding  to  the  allurements 
of  ease  or  the  gratification  of  selfish  enjoyments. 
You  wrestled  with  stern  nature,  and  sometimes  with 
adverse  fortune,  in  the  forests  of  New  England,  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio,  and  the  prairies  of 
Illinois  and  Minnesota  bloom  with  greater  loveliness 
through  your  care. 

"  You  have  not  filled  large  spaces  in  the  public 
eye,  but  your  quiet,  unobtrusive  virtues  have  shed  a 


422  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

brilliant  lustre  on  your  private  life.  You  Lave  not 
sought  the  applause  or  honors  of  the  world,  but  you 
have  enjoyed  the  affection  and  confidence  of  your 
neighbors  and  endeared  yourselves  to  all  those  need 
ing  your  care,  sympathy  or  consolation.  You  have 
not  labored  mainly  for  the  meat  that  perisheth,  but 
have  sought  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  right 
eousness,  with  a  sublime  confidence  that  all  other 
things  shall  be  added,  which  are  really  needful.  You 
have  not  sought  eagerly  nor  secured  largely  what  the 
world  is  pleased  to  term  success,  but  who  shall  say 
what  constitutes  success  in  the  vocabulary  of  angels? 
Whether  you  would  to-day  exchange  the  success 
attained  by  yourselves  for  all  the  glittering  store  of 
the  world's  idols,  I  need  not  ask. 

"To  the  principles  of  morality,  virtue,  and  gospel 
truth  early  instilled  into  their  minds,  enforced  by 
your  example,  do  your  children  owe  whatever  of 
good  may  appear  in  their  characters,  whatever  of 
success  they  may  attain  in  life,  whatever  of  public  or 
private  consideration  and  esteem  they  may  inspire, 
and  as  a  fitting  return  for  your  care,  your  integrity, 
and  the  other  Christian  graces  illustrated  by  your 
daily  lives,  you  now  realize  the  assurance  of  the 
sacred  proverbalist,  that  your  children  shall  arise,  as 
we  do  this  day,  and  pronounce  you  blessed." 

Not  long  afterward  Jesse  Sawyer  passed  away, 
followed  later  by  his  wife  who,  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
two,  was  peacefully  gathered  to  her  rest,  in  the 
home  where,  sixteen  years  before,  her  golden  wedding 
had  been  celebrated. 

To  the  training  received  from  such  parents,  no  less 
than  to  his  own  efforts,  to  the  training,  rather,  which 
made  him  capable  of  such  efforts,  and  gave  them 
direction,  Lorenzo  Sawyer  owes  the  exalted  position 
which  he  has  since  attained. 

Reared  as  he  was  in  a  home  where  was  the  very 
dwelling-place  of  honor  and  simplicity,  wrhere  as  his 
brother  remarked  the  principles  of  morality,  virtue, 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  423 

and  truth  were  early  instilled,  and  enforced  by 
example,  it  were  hardly  to  be  expected  that  his  life 
should  be  other  than  it  is,  one  of  singular  purity  and 
usefulness,  presenting  a  career  on  which  no  breath  of 
reproach  has  ever  rested. 

Like  other  farmers'  sons,  Lorenzo  began  early  the 
serious  business  of  life.  At  an  age  when  most  boys 
are  midway  in  their  education,  he  had  learned  to  do 
everything  that  is  to  be  done  in  the  working 
of  a  farm.  He  could  plow  and  sow;  he  could  look 
after  cattle;  he  could  cut  logs  and  raft  them;  he  could 
mow  hay  and  reap  grain,  and  to  this  day  he  bears  on 
his  wrist  the  scar  of  a  wound  received  while  whetting 
a  scythe.  Rising  before  day  in  the  freezing  cold  he 
tended  the  livestock,  and  worked  in  the  barn  until 
the  hour  of  breakfast  and  school,  returning  toward 
nightfall  to  complete  his  task.  At  ten  he  could  drive 
an  ox-team  to  the  river  bank,  discharging  into  the 
stream  a  wagon-load  of  logs,  and  this  he  did  a  hun 
dred  times  amid  the  pine  forests  of  this  Black  river 
country,  then  on  the  verge  of  the  wilderness  primeval. 
In  truth  it  was  a  hard  life  he  led  on  this  northern 
frontier,  with  its  harsh  and  forbidding  climate,  where 
four  months  of  uninterrupted  sleighing  were  no 
uncommon  occurrence  But  thus  was  added  to  the 
strong  constitution  inherited  from  his  parents  the 
robur  et  aes  triplex  which  only  hard  toil  and  exposure 
can  give;  thus  were  his  sinews  toughened,  his  brawn 
and  muscles  developed;  to  this  experience  it  is  due 
that  now  at  the  age  of  three-score  and  ten  Mr 
Sawyer's  powers  of  mind  and  body  show  but  slight 
traces  of  decay. 

From  hauling  timber  Lorenzo  turned  his  attention 
to  selling  it,  and  for  this  he  had  a  good  opportunity 
when  the  family  removed  to  their  Pennsylvania 
farm,  on  which  were  several  hundred  acres  of  choicest 
timber.  At  eighteen  we  find  him  steering  down  the 
Susquehanna  river  a  raft  of  lumber  cut  at  his  father's 
sawmill,  and  this  he  disposed  of  below  the  town  of 


424  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

Harrisburg,  a  distance  of  more  than  200  miles. 
During  the  voyage  he  read  for  the  first  time  Camp 
bell's  Gertrude  of  Wyoming,  and  we  may  be  sure  that  he 
followed  with  the  keenest  relish  the  story  of  this 
beautiful  epic,  for  he  was  now  at  the  romantic  era  of 
life,  and  to  him  the  history  of  Wyoming  and  the 
Wyoming  massacre  was  ever  of  absorbing  interest. 

Let  us  picture  to  ourselves  the  future  jurist  afloat 
on  his  lumber  raft  on  the  waters  of  the  Susque- 
hannah.  He  is  attired  in  his  work-day  clothes,  his 
right  hand  on  the  long  oar  which  serves  as  rudder, 
and  in  the  left  his  book,  at  which  now  arid  then,  if 
the  course  is  clear,  he  casts  a  hurried  glance.  In  the 
centre  of  the  raft  is  the  cooking  galley,  where  his 
dinner  of  pork  and  beans  is  boiling,  and  adjoining  it 
is  the  tiny  cabin,  where  far  into  the  night  he  pores 
over  his  favorite  volume.  Thus  the  hours  glide  past, 
smoothly  as  the  current  of  the  noble  river  that  bears 
on  its  bosom  his  unwieldy  craft.  But  presently  he 
approaches  a  critical  point.  It  is  the  Shernokim  dam 
through  the  chute  of  which  the  stream  rushes  like 
a  mill-race.  At  the  lower  end  a  rock  had  been 
deposited  by  the  floods,  the  terror  of  raftsmen,  who 
by  a  sudden  jerk  of  the  oar  were  often  thrown  head 
long  into  the  seething  waters.  No  more  meditation 
now;  but  making  fast  to  the  river  bank,  he  steps  on 
the  wall  of  the  chute  and  quietly  watches  his  turn. 
It  is  not  a  reassuring  sight,  for  of  the  score  of  rafts 
that  are  borne  through  this  Charybdis  all  but  one 
suffer  partial  shipwreck.  But  now  his  time  has  come. 
Profiting  by  what  he  had  seen,  without  the  quiver  of 
a  muscle  he  grasps  the  oar  and  pushes  out  into  the 
stream.  The  current  is  furious,  with  a  hell  of  water 
on  either  side  of  him,  and  when  about  midway  in  the 
passage  his  raft  j  ust  grazes  the  dreaded  rock  and  for 
an  instant  his  heart  rises  into  his  throat.  But  it  is 
only  a  scratch.  Another  moment  and  he  is  out  of 
danger  and  in  due  time,  his  cargo  disposed  of,  he  is 
on  his  way  home  with  a  goodly  sum  for  safety  sewed 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  425 

into   his    shirt,  wherewith    to    replenish    the    family 
exchequer 

Except  for  such  rudiments  of  education  as  could 
be  acquired  at  the  district  schools,  and  for  a  year  or 
two  of  study  at  the  Black  river  and  other  institutes, 
Mr  Sawyer  was  entirely  self-taught.  From  early 
boyhood  his  evenings  and  most  of  the  few  play  hours 
that  fell  to  his  share  were  devoted  mainly  to  books, 
pitch  pine  and  tallow  candles,  furnished  him  light. 
There  was  no  gas  in  those  days.  At  Rutland,  some 
three  miles  from  his  home  was  a  public  library  of 
well  selected  works,  of  which  he  was  not  slow  to 
avail  himself,  riding  into  town  to  exchange  his  books 
as  soon  as  he  had  mastered  their  contents.  Mathe 
matics  and  the  physical  sciences  were  his  favorite 
subjects,  and  like  others  who  have  attained  to 
eminence  in  his  profession,  he  was  a  natural  mathe 
matician.  The  knowledge  which  he  acquired  at 
school,  or  from  private  study,  he  made  more 
thoroughly  his  own  by  teaching,  the  best  of  all 
means  of  gaining  a  thorough  mastery  of  a  subject, 
anil  of  discovering  one's  own  deficiencies.  Among 
other  places  where  his  services  were  in  demand 
was  the  town  of  Southport,  in  New  York  state, 
where  the  population  was  one  of  more  than  average 
intelligence,  including  several  retired  merchants 
from  New  York  city,  whose  children  were  placed 
under  his  charge. 

But  it  was  not  as  a  teacher  that  Mr  Sawyer  was 
•destined  to  make  his  mark  in  life.  Teaching,  as  he 
had  not  failed  to  observe,  is  but  a  poor  calling,  except 
as  a  stepping-stone  to  something  better.  Had  he 
remained  therein  the  state  of  New  York  would  have 
had  the  advantage  of  an  excellent  teacher,  but  the 
state  of  California  would  have  lost  an  excellent 
judge.  It  was,  however,  partly  by  accident  that  he 
was  led  to  adopt  the  profession  of  the  law.  A  mur 
der  trial  was  in  progress  at  Watertown,  when  entering 


426  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

the  courtroom  he  listened  with  the  deepest  interest. 
On  the  bench  was  a  judge  of  the  old-fashioned  type, 
grave,  dignified,  and  formal,  but  with  a  thorough 
knowledge  of  the  law.  For  the  prosecution  and 
defence  were  two  of  the  ablest  lawyers  of  the  day;  and 
as  he  listened  to  the  speeches  on  either  side,  the 
examination  and  cross-examination  of  witnesses,  with 
all  the  legal  sparring  incidental  to  the  case,  his  mind 
was  captivated  and  he  decided  to  become  a  lawyer. 
That  he  should  ever  be  a  judge  he  did  not  then 
imagine,  for  Mr  Sawyer  was  ever  a  modest  man,  and 
as  unassuming  as  modest;  but  such  are  the  men  whom 
office  and  position  seek,  when  called  upon  to  seek  at 
all,  which  is  not  often.  Meanwhile  he  kept  his  inten 
tion  secret,  for  by  the  pious  New  England  people, 
among  whom  he  was  reared,  a  lawyer  was  regarded 
as  cousin-german  to  the  father  of  lies. 

At  the  age  of  twenty  Mr  Sawyer  made  his  first 
appearance  in  public  at  the  mineral  springs  at  Rome, 
in  Pennsylvania,  a  summer  resort,  near  which  the 
family  then  resided,  and  formerly  a  portion  of  his 
father's  estate.  It  was  before  one  of  the  Tippecanoe 
and  Tyler  clubs,  of  which  during  that  memorable 
campaign  numbers  were  formed  throughout  the  land. 
With  much  reluctance  he  consented  to  make  a  speech, 
taking  the  side  of  the  whigs,  to  which  party  at  the 
time  he  belonged.  It  was  a  trying  moment  when  the 
young  man  confronted  a  large  audience,  his  speech 
prepared,  except  as  to  the  language,  from  a  careful 
study  of  the  best  orations  delivered  during  the  cam 
paign.  When  he  began  to  speak  a  feeling  of  dizziness 
came  over  him ;  but  he  was  kindly  received,  and  soon 
his  embarrassment  wore  away.  As  he  proceeded  he 
carried  with  him  the  sympathies  of  his  hearers,  for 
he  possessed  in  no  small  degree  the  power  of  personal 
magnetism.  When  about  two-thirds  through  the 
speech  he  had  laid  out,  he  made  a  remark  which 
aroused  their  enthusiasm,  and  was  followed  by  a 
burst  of  applause  long  continued.  At  this  point  he 


LORENZO  SAWYER,  427 

took  liis  seat,  although  he  had  much  more  to  say, 
thus  showing  that  he  possessed  one  of  the  most 
able  of  oratorical  gifts,  the  knowledge  when  to  stop. 

But  Mr  Sawyer  had  long  since  discovered  that 
Pennsylvania  was  not  the  place  for  men  who  pos 
sessed  no  other  capital  than  that  which  nature  had 
bestowed  on  them.  He  would  go  west,  to  what 
exact  point  he  had  not  determined,  but  as  far  as  his 
money  would  carry  him.  His  parents  offered  no 
strong  objection,  for  they  had  the  utmost  confidence 
in  their  favorite  son,  though  his  father  promised  him 
a  farm  if  he  would  remain.  So  on  a  summer  morn 
ing,  in  1840,  a  day  or  two  after  his  maiden  speech, 
we  find  him  on  the  stage  for  Williamsport,  whence, 
by  way  of  the  Susquehanna  and  Juniatta  canals,  he 
passed  on  to  Pittsburg,  and  by  the  Beaver  canal  and 
river  to  Cleveland  and  Atwater,  the  latter  in  Port 
age  county,  Ohio.  At  Atwater,  in  the  autumn 
and  winter,  he  taught  the  district  school,  meantime 
assisting  one,  Deacon  Horton,  formerly  a  neighbor 
and  fellow  church-member,  with  his  father,  in  the 
building  of  his  house.  "  Lorenzo,"  said  the  deacon, 
thirty  or  forty  years  hence,  when  you  get  to  be  a 
distinguished  man,  if  you  should  happen  to  come 
along  back  into  this  region  you  can  point  to  this 
house  and  say  you  helped  to  build  it."  Nearly 
forty  years  afterward  Mr  Sawyer,  then  United  States 
circuit  judge,  returned,  to  find  his  friend,  at  the 
age  of  ninety-five,  still  living  in  the  neighborhood. 
Though  he  could  not  remember  incidents  which 
had  occurred  but  yesterday,  he  had  not  forgotten 
Lorenzo,  or  the  part  he  played  in  the  building  of  the 
house. 

After  teaching  and  studying  alternately,  as  his 
means  permitted,  he  removed  to  Columbus,  Ohio, 
near  which  his  cousin,  the  Reverend  Leicester  A. 
Sawyer  had  just  established  Central  college  of  Ohio, 
of  which  he  was  president.  Here  he  taught  the 
freshman  class  in  Latin  and  mathematics,  and  of 


428  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

his  pupils  there  were  not  a  few  who,  in  after  life, 
attained  to  eminence.  Among  them  were  his 
vounger  brother,  who  became  one  of  the  most  prom 
inent  men  in  southern  Minnesota;  also  George  L. 
Converse,  one  of  the  most  eloquent  of  democratic 
speakers  and  a  distinguished  member  of  Congress; 
John  C.  Lee,  twice  lieutenant-governor  of  Ohio  and 
a  colonel  in  the  civil  war ;  Doctor  Lathrop,  formerly 
rector  of  the  church  of  the  advent  in  San  Fran 
cisco;  and  Doctor  Washburn,  rector  of  the  leading 
episcopal  church  in  Cleveland,  who  lost  his  life  in 
the  railroad  disaster  at  Ashtabula,  also  Thomas 
Carney  afterward  governor  of  Kansas.  Meanwhile 
he  continued  his  studies,  using  to  the  best  advan 
tage  every  spare  moment. 

His  college  education  completed,  Mr  Sawyer 
entered  the  office  of  Gustavus  Swan,  the  leading 
real  estate  lawyer  of  Ohio,  who  presently  withdrew 
from  practice  to  accept  the  presidency  of  the  state 
bank  of  Ohio,  then  under  the  management  of  a  board 
of  control  located  at  Columbus.  To  this  board  he 
was  appointed  assistant  secretary,  and  while  study 
ing  law  held  that  position  for  more  than  a  year,  count 
ing  money  by  the  million,  attending  to  the  corre 
spondence,  arid  examining  and  reporting  on  abstracts 
of  title  to  the  land  in  which  the  safety  fund  was 
invested.  Thus  it  was  that  he  gained  his  first  insight 

C->  O 

into  the  business  of  real  estate,  listening  at  times 
to  the  advice  of  the  president,  while  he  arranged 
and  signed  the  bills  of  the  state  bank  and  its  fifty 
branches.  He  completed  his  law  studies  in  the 
office  of  the  late  Justice  Swayne  of  the  United  States 
supreme  court. 

In  the  spring  of  1846  Mr  Sawyer  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  the  supreme  court  of  Ohio,  soon  afterward 
removing  to  Chicago,  and  thence  to  Janesville,  Wis 
consin,  whence  he  went  to  Jefferson  on  the  invitation 
of  Lieutenant-Governor  Homes,  and  became  his  part 
ner  upon  equal  terms.  Here  it  was  that  he  won  his 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  429 

first  important  case.  It  was  the  leading  case  of  the 
term,  the  point  at  issue  being  an  injunction  against  a 
dam,  across  Rock  river,  and  Mr  Sawyer  appearing  as 
junior  council  for  the  defence,  with  Governor  Holmes 
and  the  late  Chief  Justice  Noggle  for  his  principals. 
The  injunction  was  granted,  whereupon  the  latter  set 
forth  from  town,  their  business,  as  they  thought,  com 
pleted.  On  the  following  Saturday,  when,  as  it 
chanced,  Mr  Sawyer  and  the  judge  were  hunting 
together,  the  young  lawyer  remarked,  "  I  think, 
judge,  there  is  something  wrong  in  that  decision.  The 
injunction  is  a  little  severe,  and  I  don't  think  our 
side  of  the  matter  was  presented  in  its  proper  light." 
"Well,"  was  the  answer,  "  If  you  think  so,  why  don't 
you  move  to  modify  it  ? "  "Because  I  am  only  a  sub 
ordinate,  and  it  is  not  my  place  to  take  action  without 
consulting  my  principals."  "  If  you  think  you  can 
do  better,"  suggested  the  judge,  "  I  should  not  hesi- 
tatn  to  move  and  try."  On  this  hint,  and  without 
the  least  presage  of  what  the  result  would  be,  Mr 
Sawyer  gave  notice  to  the  plaintiff's  attorneys  that 
he  would  move  for  a  modification  of  the  injunction. 
Much  to  their  surprise,  and  not  a  little  to  their  dis 
gust,  first  that  the  motion  should  be  made  at  all,  and 
second  that  it  should  be  made  by  a  junior  in  the 
absence  of  his  principals,  the  case  was  decided  in 
favor  of  Mr  Sawyer's  client  and  the  injunction  so 
modified  as  to  be  harmless.  Such  a  victory,  won 
single-handed  against  two  of  the  most  prominent 
lawyers  in  the  western  states,  gained  for  him  no  small 
repute.  And  now  he  began  to  be  spoken  of  as  one 
of  the  rising  men,  not  only  in  professional  but 
in  political  circles,  as  a  man  whom  the  people  wanted, 
in  a  word  as  the  right  man  in  the  right  place. 

Doubtless  Mr  Sawyer  was  the  right  man,  but  he 
was  not  as  yet  in  the  right  place  ;  for  with  his  ability 
and  industry,  his  excellent  habits  and  his,rare  capac 
ity  for  work,  success  was  assured  wheresoever  he 
cast  in  his  lot.  Though  even  if  he  remained  at  Jeffer- 


430  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

son  the  future  was  full  of  promise,  there  were  better 
openings  than  could  be  found  in  what  were  then  the 
frontier  settlements  of  the  west.  From  the  further 
west,  about  this  time  tidings  of  the  gold  discovery 
were  being  noised  throughout  the  world,  and  he 
resolved  to  go  to  California,  led  to  this  decision  partly 
by  reading  the  newspapers,  but  more  by  the  sight  of 
a  bagfull  of  nuggets  which  a  successful  miner  dis 
played  to  the  wonder-stricken  citizens  of  Jefferson. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1850  he  set  forth  across  the 
plains,  accompanied  by  a  party  of  young  men  from 
Wisconsin,  making  the  trip  from  St  Joseph  to  Hang- 
town  in  seventy-two  days,  the  shortest  time,  so  far  as 
known,  in  which  the  journey  had  been  accomplished 
by  a  wagon  train.  Of  that  journey  no  record  need 
here  be  given,  though  many  of  its  incidents  were 
published  in  a  series  of  articles  contributed  by  Mr 
Sawyer  to  the  Ohio  Observer,  and  copied  in  several 
western  journals,  as  furnishing  most  valuable  data  to 
those  who  might  follow.  Many  times  since  then 
he  has  crossed  the  mountains  recognizing  many  of 
the  places  passed  when  first  on  his  way  to  the  land  of 
gold.  He  has  lived  to  cross  the  Rocky  mountain  range 
&t  five  different  points  by  rail,  and  at  two  by  teams. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  July  when  his  party, 
after  nearly  three  months  of  travel,  enjoyed  their 
first  brief  rest  at  Han  gt  own,  in  the  county  whose 
name  has  since  been  aptly  applied  to  the  golden  state. 
At  this  time  Mr  Sawyer's  worldly  effects  consisted  of 
a  small  stock  of  clothing,  a  smaller  stock  of  money,  a 
copy  of  Shakespeare  presented  to  him  by  Professor 
Bosworth  of  the  Black  river  institute,  and  eleven 
volumes  of  law  books,  the  latter  hermetically  sealed 
in  a  tin  case  purchased  for  the  purpose.  To  pack 
these  books  across  the  mountains  had  already  cost 
him  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars  and,  as  we  shall  see,  this 
little  library  was  destined  to  play  an  important  part 
in  his  career  and  become  historic. 


i  LORENZO  SAWYER.  431 

After  a  brief  experience  in  mining,  mainly  at 
Coloma,  where  gold  was  first  discovered,  he  concluded 
that  his  profession  would  be  to  him  a  richer  mine 
than  any  he  was  likely  to  discover.  Sacramento  was 
then  the  .paradise  of  the  profession,  where  many  a 
costly  land  and  mining  suit  was  decided  at  every  term 
of  court.  Here  he  arrived  in  no  very  cheerful  mood, 
sleeping  in  barns  by  the  wayside,  with  his  clothes 
worn  out,  and  himself  in  the  same  condition  from 
exposure,  hardship,  and  excessive  toil.  Still  he  faltered 
not;  nor  was  he  discouraged,  accepting  as  the  first 
work  that  was  offered  the  copying  of  the  assignment 
of  the  then  great  banker  and  bankrupt,  Barton  Lee, 
for  which  he  received  an  ounce  of  gold-dust.  But  for 
a  man  of  Mr  Sawyer's  ability,  there  was  no  occasion 
to  hide  his  head  under  a  bushel,  and  soon  we  find  him 
in  partnership  with  the  city  recorder  and  police 
judge,  Frank  Washington;  then  sickness  came  upon 
him,  a  sickness  contracted  during  his  overland  jour 
ney,  and  for  several  weeks  he  was  unable  to  work. 
At  this  juncture  began  the  squatter  riots,  and  of  these 
he  was  one  of  the  spectators,  dragging  himself  from 
his  berth  under  the  common  council  room  to  witness 
the  scenes  that  followed.  He  saw  the  dead  and 
wounded  as  they  fell  and  before  removed  from  the 
street,  among  whom  was  Mayor  Bigelow,  who  after 
wards  died  from  his  wounds. 

In  October  of  1850,  Mr  Sawyer,  in  order  to  recover 
his  health,  removed  to  Nevada  city,  where  he  prac 
tised  his  profession  until  the  autumn  of  1853,  except 
for  a  few  months  spent  in  practice  at  the  capital  and 
the  metropolis,  where  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
Judge  Roderick  N.  Morrison  and  his  nephew,  Frank 
M.  Pixley.  Not  least  among  the  causes  that  led  to 
his  success  in  Nevada  was  his  law  library.  True  it 
consisted  only  of  eleven  volumes ;  but  at  that  time 
good  law  books  were  scarce,  more  so  even  than  good 
lawyers.  His  works  included  Blackstone,  Chatty  on 
Contracts,  Smith's  Mercantile  Law,  Story's  Equity  Juris- 


432  GOVERNMENT    CALIFORNIA. 

prudence,  Wilcox'    Practice,  Swans  Justice,    a  book  of 
Ohio  practice,  and  Greenleafs  Evidence. 

The  history  of  these  books  is  worth  relating,  for 
few  persons  or  things  passed  through  more  perils 
from  desert,  fire,  and  flood,  than  did  these  eleven 
volumes.  First  of  all,  they  narrowly  escaped  being  left 
at  the  sink  of  the  Humboldt  river,  where  some  of  the 
wagons  were  deserted,  and  the  labor  and  cost  of  carry 
ing  them  further  were  great.  They  were  once  thrown, 
out,  but  a  friend  who  left  his  wagon  consented  to  pack 
them  in,  and  thus  they  were  saved.  In  May  1851 
their  owner  and  his  partners  were  settled  in  a  second 
floor  office  on  Commercial  street,  in  San  Francisco, 
which  also  served  as  bedroom.  At  that  date  fires 
were  frequent,  so  frequent  that  they  thought  little  of 
them.  After  several  alarms  that  proved  of  no  con 
sequence,  Mr  Pixley  vowed  that  in  case  of  another 
alarm  he  would  not  stir  from  his  room  until  the  walls 
were  hot.  He  had  not  long  to  wait.  About  mid 
night  on  the  fourth  of  May  he  was  roused  from  sleep 
by  Sawyer,  who  quietly  remarked:  "Frank,  you  had 
better  get  up;  the  walls  are  getting  hot."  There 
was  barely  time  to  pack  their  loose  effects  in 
blankets  and  to  reach  the  street,  when  the  fire  was 
upon  them,  and  they  were  obliged  to  pay  $50  for  the 
use  of  a  dray  to  convey  their  property  to  the  cus 
tom-house  building  on  California  and  Montgomery 
streets,  then  the  southern  limit  of  the  city,  and,  as  they 
thought,  a  place  of  safety.  But  the  fire,  leaping  from 
building  to  building,  travelled  almost  as  fast  as  the  dray 
and  finally  swept  away  everything  down  to  the  bay. 
There  was  now  no  alternative  but  for  each  one  to 
seize  what  he  could  carry  and  escape  from  the  track  of 
the  conflagration.  Shouldering  the  trunk  which  con 
tained  his  clothing  and  papers,  Sawyer  carried  it 
beyond  reach  of  the  flames,  and  gave  up  his  books  as 
lost  to  him  forever.  But  two  days  after  it  was  reported 
that  some  property  of  his  was  on  board  a  vessel  lying 
in  the  stream.  And  so  it  proved.  Seeing  the  blankets 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  433 

and  their  contents,  close  to  what  was  then  the  water 
front,  somebody  had  rescued  them  and  put  them  on 
board  the  ship  then  lying  at  the  wharf.  She  cut 
loose  and  swung  into  the  stream,  and  there  they  lay 
uninjured.  Much  other  property  was  found  on  the 
same  ship. 

Again,  a  few  weeks  later,  on  the  22d  of  June,  the 
fire-bell  tolled  a  general  alarm,  and  as  Sawyer  was 
breakfasting  with  Pixley,  at  the  Jackson  street  res 
taurant,  the  flames  came  roaring  down  upon  them, 
once  more  sweeping  the  city  out  of  existence,  except 
a  few  buildings  on  the  west  side  of  the  plaza.  Dis 
couraged  by  these  calamities,  a  month  later  found  Mr 
Sawyer  en  route  for  Nevada  city,  journeying  by  way 
of  Marysville.  At  a  hotel  at  the  latter  place  he  left 
his  trunk,  containing  his  clothing  and  books,  for  as  yet 
he  had  not  decided  where  to  locate  and  took  stage 
for  Nevada  city.  Next  day  after  his  arrival  came 
news  that  the  city  of  Marysville  was  burnt  to  the 
ground,  including  the  hotel,  which  stood  in  its  centre. 
Supposing,  of  course,  his  trunk  was  destroyed,  Sawyer 
dismissed  the  matter  from  his  mind,  and  settled  him 
self  to  work.  But  the  books  were  not  made  to  be 
burned;  they  were  not  so  predestined;  for  books,  like 
men,  have  a  destiny  to  fulfill.  In  the  following  week 
a  teamster  drove  up  with  goods  for  Clark's  drugstore, 
in  which  was  Sawyer's  office.  The  teamster's  name, 
as  now  remembered,was  Oglesby,  afterward  governor 
of  Illinois.  Introduced  to  Mr  Sawyer  he  inquired  his 
Christian  name.  "  Lorenzo,"  was  the  answer.  "  Well," 
said  the  teamster,  "I  saw  a  trunk  with  the  name 
of  Lorenzo  Sawyer  on  the  card  about  a  mile  from 
Marysville,  stored  in  a  large  house  with  other  prop 
erty  saved  from  the  fire."  The  trunk  came  safe  to 
Nevada  on  the  next  trip  of  the  teamster.  Some  six 
years  later  Mr  Sawyer  went  east,  as  he  thought  to 
remain,  and  after  some  further  adventures,  the  books 
—except  Shakespeare  and  Blackstone — were  trans 
ferred  to  the  law  firm  of  Buckner  and  Hill,  with  the 

C.   B.— II.    28 


134  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

rest  of  his  then  quite  respectable  law  library.  By 
them  they  were  afterward  disposed  of  to  A.  A.  Sar 
gent,  and  by  him  to  the  county  of  Nevada,  where, 
after  escaping  a  fire  or  two  in  Nevada,  in  the  public 
library  they  found  at  length  a  resting-place.  Here, 
after  the  lapse  of  a  quarter  of  a  century,  Mr  Sawyer 
again  caught  sight  of  his  immortal  volumes,  whose 
history  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  typical  California 
adventurer.  Shakespeare  and  Blackstone  afterwards 
went  east  around  Cape  Horn  and  came  back  to  Cali 
fornia  as  slow  freight  by  the  Isthmus,  upon  sailing 
vessels.  They  are  now  in  Judge  Sawyer's  library. 
Blackstone  is  the  copy  in  which  Judge  Sawyer  read 
his  first  law.  It  was  the  gift  of  the  president  of 
Central  college. 

Many  were  the  interesting  cases  which  Sawyer  tried 
at  Nevada  city,  after  a  careful  preparation  at  his  office, 
connected  with  the  drugstore,  consisting  at  first  of  a 
few  square  feet  near  the  sidewalk,  if  sidewalk  there 
was,  and  for  furniture  a  single  chair,  a  paper  clip,  and 
a  table,  fashioned  by  his  own  hands  of  shakes  or  bar 
rel  staves,  and  serving  at  times  as  dining-room  table 
for  the  al  fresco  meals  of  which  he  was  himself  the 
cook.  For  his  first  case  he  was  indebted  to  the 
doctor  and  druggist,  who  besides  being  his  messmate 
acted  as  dish-washer  for  the  household.  It  came 
about  in  this  wise:  One  day  the  druggist  invited  to 
dinner  three  miners  with  whom  he  was  acquainted. 
After  being  introduced  to  Saw}Ter  one  of  them 
remarked:  "I  understand  you  are  from  Ohio?" 

"Yes,  I  am  from  Ohio." 

"You  have  not  been  here  long?" 

"  No,  I  have  only  just  come.  " 

"  Have  you  ever  tried  any  of  these  mining  suits  " 

"  No,  but  I  would  like  to  get  a  chance  to  try  one." 

"I  suppose  you  know  the  principles  they  depend 
upon?" 

"  I  believe  that  I  understand  them.  We  have  to 
go  to  the  jury  for  both  law  and  facts,  I  believe." 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  435 

"Well,  we  are  from  Ohio,  and  have  a  suit.  If  you 
think  you  can  manage  the  case  I  will  give  it  to  you. 
We  have  got  into  a  little  difficulty  over  here  on  Gold 
flat.  We  had  taken  up  a  claim  and  were  working  it, 
but  a  company  from  Tennessee  has  jumped  it  and  we 
want  to  recover." 

The  man  then  stated  his  case  in  detail,  whereupon 
Sawyer  replied  that  if  his  statements  were  proved 
he  thought  the  suit  could  be  won.  As  this  was  Saw 
yer's  first  mining  case,  a  fee  of  fifty  dollars  was  agreed 
upon  and  paid  down — a  small  amount  for  a  mining 
suit  in  the  days  of  fifty-one  ;  but  Sawyer  had  not 
yet  learned  how  to  charge, — about  the  only  part  of 
his  profession  in  fact  that  he  has  never  thoroughly 
learned.  On  the  same  day  the  complaint  was  drawn, 
and  within  forty-eight  hours  suit  was  commenced  and 
summons  served  on  the  defendants.  The  opposing  coun 
sel,  one  of  whom  was  Judge  William  T.  Barber,  were 
able  and  experienced  lawyers,  rating  Sawyer,  who 
stood  alone,  as  little  better  than  a  novice.  But  they 
did  not  know  their  man.  At  every  step  the  case  was 
stubbornly  contested,  from  the  pleadings  to  the  clos 
ing  argument  on  either  side.  For  the  plaintiff  the 
witnesses  were  for  the  most  part  from  Ohio,  for  the 
defendant  they  were  southerners,  and  so  conflicting 
was  their  testimony,  that  perjury  was  clearly  commit 
ted  on  one  side  or  the  other.  After  a  three  days' 
trial  the  jury  retired  to  consider  their  verdict ;  and 
believing  that  they  could  not  agree,  and  would  proba 
bly  be  locked  up  for  the  night,  Sawyer  went  home  to 
dinner.  While  at  table  a  shout  was  heard,  and  pres 
ently  a  number  of  men  ran  up  to  the  store.  "  Where 
is  Sawyer ?"  cried  the  leader.  "We  have  won  our 
suit.  Where  are  your  scales  ?"  And  without  fur 
ther  phrase  he  weighed  out,  with  a  heavy  down  thug, 
another  fifty  dollars'  worth  of  gold-dust. 

But  the  most  important  case,  and  the  one  which 
helped  more  than  any  other  to  establish  his  reputa 
tion,  and  the  one  more  than  any  other  ever  tried  by 


436  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

him  that  affected  his  future  destiny,  was  the  Rough 
and  Ready  mining  suit,  tried  in  the  town  of  that  name 
before  E.  W.  Roberts,  afterward  county  judge  and 
state  senator,  and  involving  the  possession  of  a  claim 
on  Yuba  river  valued  at  several  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  Sawyer  appeared  for  the  plaintiffs,  and  for  the 
defendants  Judge  Townsend  was  the  leading  counsel. 
As  the  parties  to  the  suit  were  numerous  and 
wealthy,  it  was  said  to  have  been  agreed  that  all 
the  hotel  bills,  including  wines  and  cigars,  for  clients 
and  witnesses,  jury  and  lawyers,  should  be  included 
in  the  costs,  to  be  paid  of  course  by  those  who 
should  lose  the  suit.  At  the  close  of  the  trial  it  was 
found  that  the  legal  costs  amounted  to  nearly  $2,000, 
with  hotel  bills  of  more  than  double  that  amount. 
The  whole  surrounding  country  took  an  interest  on 
one  side  or  another. 

During  the  progress  of  the  case  the  two  hotels  of 
Rough  and  Ready  were  crowded  with  guests,  and 
among  them  were  several  ladies,  all  of  whom  took  sides 
with  the  contestants,  who,  it  was  said,  had  their  spies 
in  the  opposing  camp.  At  the  first  trial  the  jury  dis 
agreed  ,  and  at  the  second,  after  a  ten  days'  struggle, 
the  jury  retired  at  one  o'clock  on  a  Sabbath  morn 
ing  to  consider  their  verdict.  Sawyer  made  the  clos 
ing  argument.  A  few  minutes  later  they  returned 
into  court,  or  rather  into  the  warehouse  where  the 
cause  was  heard,  with  a  verdict  for  the  plaintiffs. 
The  scene  which  followed  was  such  as  had  probably 
never  been  witnessed  in  Rough  and  Ready.  Amid 
deafening  cheers  and  tossing  of  hats,  Mr  Sawyer, 
before  he  could  escape  from  the  uproar,  was  forced 
into  a  chair  and  borne  in  triumph  on  the  shoulders 
of  his  excited  clients  to  his  hotel,  surrounded  by  a 
surging  throng  shouting  "  Hurrah  for  Sawyer  !  "  In 
the  same  way,  but  with  less  enthusiasm,  they  treated 
Justice  Roberts ;  and  then  came  the  serious  business  of 
the  evening,  or  rather  of  the  morning ;  but  this  we  will 
leave  to  the  reader's  imagination,  remarking  only 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  437 

that  Rough  and  Ready  was  then  one  of  the  richest 
mining  camps  in  the  state,  and  that  saloons  and 
dance-houses  were  plentiful.  In  the  orgies  which  fol 
lowed  it  need  not  be  said  that  neither  judge  nor 
counsel  participated. 

Many  were  the  amusing  incidents  of  these  early 
days,  and  many  the  pleasant  hour  that  is  still  passed 
in  recalling  them.  But  not  always  were  they  amus 
ing.  For  days  at  a  time  Mr  Sawyer  has  been  in  peril 
of  his  life,  his  footsteps  dogged  by  men  who  had 
vowed  to  take  his  life.  On  one  occasion,  while 
addressing  a  jury,  at  night  a  man  who  nursed  a  fancied 
wrong  was  about  to  strike  him  on  the  head  from 
behind  with  a  long  block  of  wood,  which  had  the 
blow  fallen  would  probably  have  ended  his  career, 
but  the  raised  hand  was  seized  by  the  sheriff  and 
another  friend.  At  another  time  his  partner, 
E.  F.  W.  Ellis,  was  commenting  sharply  on  the 
evidence  of  a  witness  from  Tennessee,  and  from  whom 
he  was  separated  only  by  the  table  in  front  of  which  he 
stood.  The  man  drew  his  revolver,  but  quick  as  a 
flash  the  other  leaped  with  drawn  knife  over  the  table, 
and  almost  as  quickly  his  would-be  assassin  was  in 
the  street.  Here  it  may  be  mentioned  that  by  Mr 
Ellis  was  framed  the  first  sole  traders'  act,  and  that 
mainly  by  his  efforts  its  passage  was  secured.  At  the 
outbreak  of  the  civil  war  he  enlisted  as  a  volunteer, 
was  promoted  to  the  colonelcy  of  the  15th  Illinois 
regiment,  and  at  Shiloh  devoted  to  the  cause  of  his 
country  the  life  which  the  southerner  had  imperiled. 

In  the  autumn  of  1853  Mr  Sawyer  again  removed 
to  San  Francisco,  and  there,  except  for  an  occasional 
visit  to  the  eastern  states,  and  a  short  sojourn  to  Illi 
nois,  he  has  ever  since  resided.  A  few  months  later, 
at  a  time  when  litigation  was  constant,  and  when  the 
city  was  involved  in  many  suits,  he  was  elected  city 
attorney.  Of  this  portion  of  his  career  it  need  only 
be  said  that  during  his  term  no  judgment  was  ren- 


438  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

dered  against  the  city,  while  of  those  which  were 
given  in  its  favor  only  one  was  reversed  on  appeal. 
So  ably  did  he  conduct  his  cases,  that  in  the  follow 
ing  year  when  a  candidate  before  the  convention  for 
nomination  as  supreme  court  judge,  he  was  defeated 
only  by  half  a  dozen  votes.  But,  as  we  know,  influ 
ence,  rather  than  character  and  ability  sometimes 
carries  the  day  in  such  matters. 

In  the  spring  of  1861  we  find  Mr  Sawyer  in  Wash- 
ino-ton,  where  he  first  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Leland  Stanford.  At  the  moment  it  was  not  the 
intention  of  the  former  to  return  to  California,  for  he 
had  been  widely  recommended  for  the  chief-justice 
ship  of  Colorado,  then  recently  organized  as  a 
territory  and  with  good  prospect  of  success.  But 
said  his  friends  from  the  golden  state,  of  whom  there 
were  many  in  the  capital,  "Why  go  to  Colorado? 
Go  back  where  you  are  known.  The  highest  position 
on  the  Nevada  bench  is  open  to  you."  He  aban 
doned  his  candidacy  for  the  chief  justiceship  of  Col 
orado  and  sought  the  appointment  for  Nevada  in 
preference.  But  fortunately  perhaps  for  himself,  and 
certainly  for  California,  another  was  appointed  to  the 
office.  A  fortnight  later  he  with  his  family  was  on 
his  way  to  New  York  en  route  for  San  Francisco. 

The  week  which  Mr  Sawyer  passed  in  the  great 
metropolis,  while  awaiting  the  departure  of  the 
steamer,  was  probably  the  most  stirring  experience  of 
his  life.  On  the  first  day  of  that  week  the  roar  of 
cannon  at  Fort  Sumter  had  proclaimed  to  the  world 
the  opening  of  the  civil  war,  and  all  was  turmoil  and 
confusion.  Business  was  not  to  be  thought  of ;  in  its 
place  was  the  tramp  of  armed  men  and  the  crash  of 
military  bands.  Every  day,  and  sometimes  thrice  a 
day,  ships  laden  with  troops  for  the  defence  of  Wash 
ington  cast  loose  from  the  crowded  piers.  It  was  a 
spectacle  such  as  few  have  witnessed,  such  as  few 
would  care  to  witness  ;  one  sadder  even  than  was  seen 
in  Brussels  on  the  eve  of  Quatre  Bras. 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  439 

Soon  after  returning  from  the  east  Mr  Sawyer 
entered  into  partnership  with  General  Charles  H.  S. 
Williams,  one  of  California's  ablest  lawyers.  At  that 
date  the  Comstoek  lode  was  beginning  to  reveal  its 
marvellous  wealth,  and  endless  were  the  lawsuits  aris 
ing  from  conflicting  claims.  About  the  close  of  1861, 
the  firm  decided  to  open  a  branch  office  at  Virginia 
city  and  of  this  Mr  Sawyer  was  placed  in  charge.  On 
New  Year's  day  of  1862  we  find  him  in  the  streets  of 
Sacramento,  or  rather  in  the  water  which  covered  its 
streets,  for  it  was  a  year  of  flood,  and  the  city  lay  in 
the  midst  of  a  vast  inland  lake.  Rowing  in  an  open 
boat  to  the  highlands,  he  journeyed  by  train  to 
Folsom,  and  thence  by  stage  to  his  destination, 
where  he  \vas  at  once  acknowledged  as  the  leader  of 
the  bar. 

On  May  27th  of  this  year,  while  trying  an 
important  case,  he  received  by  telegram  from 
Governor  Stanford  an  offer  of  the  judgeship 
of  the  twelfth  district  court,  made  vacant  by 
the  resignation  of  Alexander  Campbell.  For  a 
time  Mr  Sawyer  hesitated.  He  had  been  retained 
in  most  of  the  great  mining  cases  pending  at  the  time, 
for  which  apart  from  large  contingent  interests,  his 
fees  would  have  amounted  to  more  than  the  total  sum 
he  has  since  received  for  thirty  years'  service  on 
the  bench.  But  while  not  underestimating  the 
value  of  money,  there  were  other  things  which  he 
valued  more,  and  among  them  the  happiness  of  his 
wife  and  family,  for  whom  there  could  be  no  attraction 
in  Virginia  city.  After  exchanging  messages  with 
Mrs  Sawyer,  therefore,  he  decided  to  accept,  on  the 
same  night  the  trial  was  finished,  and  on  the  following 
day  he  was  en  route  for  San  Francisco,  crossing  the 
snow-covered  mountains  on  horseback  to  the  point 
where  a  road  was  open  for  vehicles.  Reaching 
Sacramento  only  a  few  minutes  before  the  steamer 
sailed,  he  ran  to  the  governor's  office  and  thence,  his 
commission  in  hand,  to  the  wharf.  The  boat  had 


440  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

put  off,  and  from  it  he  was  separated  by  several  feet, 
but  clearing  the  space  with  a  bound  he  landed  safely 
on  deck  and  soon  after  nightfall  reached  his  home 
on  Saturday  night.  On  Monday  morning  he  opened 
court  at  San  Mateo. 

For  the  twelfth  judicial  district,  including  the 
counties  of  San  Francisco  and  San  Mateo,  Sawyer  was 
soon  afterwards  chosen  for  the  full  term,  and  without 
opposition,  both  parties  placing  him  in  nomination. 
Under  the  provisions  of  the  state  constitution,  as 
amended  in  1863,  he  was  elected  on  the  republican 
ticket  judge  of  the  supreme  court,  and  on  casting- 
lots  drew  the  six  years'  term,  for  the  last  two  of 
which  he  was  chief-justice.  In  1869,  when  the  circuit 
courts  of  the  United  States  were  re-organized  by  act 
of  congress,  he  was  nominated  by  President  Grant 
circuit  judge  for  the  ninth  circuit,  comprising  all  the 
Pacific  states.  The  nomination  was  confirmed  by  the 
senate  without  a  dissenting  vote,  and  early  in  the 
following  year  Sawyer  entered  upon  the  duties  of  the 
offiee  which  he  has  ever  since  retained. 

Except  perhaps  Justice  Field,  Judge  Sawyer  has 
been  called  upon,  during  his  long  career  on  the 
bench,  to  decide  more  questions  relating  to  the  settle 
ment  and  preservation  of  land  titles  than  any  member 
of  the  judiciary.  Of  late  years  there  have  been  many 
efforts  to  set  aside  the  patents  issued  after  years  of 
litigation  to  Spanish  grantees.  In  these  cases  parties 
whose  claims  were  long  since  barred  by  the  statute 
of  limitation  have  received  the  permission  of  the 
attorney-general  to  bring  suit  in  the  name  of  the 
United  States,  thus  renewing  the  litigation  twenty 
or  thirty  years  after  the  issue  of  the  patent,  for  in 
such  cases  the  statute  of  limitation  does  not  apply 
to  the  United  States.  Of  this  class  were  the  suits  of 
the  United  States  versus  the  San  Jacinto  tin  com 
pany,  United  States  versus  Throckmorton,  United 
States  versus  Carpentier,  and  many  others.  The  judg 
ment  rendered  by  Sawyer  in  favor  of  the  defendants 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  441 

was  in  every  instance  affirmed,  much  to  the  relief  of 
land  owners,  for  had  it  been  otherwise,  a  distrust 
would  have  been  created  of  all  titles  derived  under 
Spanish  grants.  Next  in  importance  were  the  mining 
debris  suits,  of  which  the  more  important  cases, 
including:  that  of  Woodruff  versus  the  North  Bloom- 

O 

field  mining  company,  were  decided  in  the  circuit 
court.  The  other  great  cases  decided  by  Judge 
Sawyer  are  too  numerous  to  specially  mention. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  professional  career  of 
Lorenzo  Sawyer,  extending  over  well-high  half  a 
century,  for  nearly  thirty  years  of  which  he  has  been 
one  of  the  most  honored  members  of  our  judiciary.  To 
the  other  members  of  that  judiciary  it  is  no  injustice 
to  say  that  by  his  learning  and  ability,  by  his  industry 
and  research,  and  above  all  by  his  perfect  integrity, 
he  has  done  as  much  as  any  living  man  to  give  to  the 
tribunals  of  California  their  high  repute.  If  he  is  not 
a  man  of  genius  or  of  brilliant  parts — to  such  qual 
ities  he  never  laid  claim,  nor  are  they  wanted  in  a 
judge — he  possesses  what  is  far  better  than  genius,  a 
fund  of  sound,  practical,  common  sense,  and  the  busi 
ness  capability  which,  in  a  measure,  his  position 
demands.  By  none  is  he  excelled  in  the  patience  arid 
application  which  he  brings  to  bear  on  his  cases, 
probing  them  to  their  inmost  depths,  dissecting  them, 
and  weighing  the  points  at  issue  with  the  surest  dis 
crimination.  Said  the  American  Law  Review,  then  pub 
lished  at  Boston  when  Sawyer  was  chief-justice  of 
this  state :  "  The  history  of  California  is  a  history  of 
marvellous  phenomena,  and  not  the  least  is  its  juris 
prudence.  Less  than  twenty  years  ago  the  common 
law  was  unknown  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  to-day  we 
find  the  supreme  court  of  California  holding  it  with 
a  comprehensive  grasp,  and  administering  it  with  an 
ability  decidedly  superior  to  that  shown  by  the  tribu 
nals  of  many  much  older  communities." 

Law,  Judge  Sawyer  regards  as  a  progressive 
science,  whose  principles  must  be  adapted  from  time 


442  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

to  time  to  the  ever-changing  condition  of  human 
affairs.  Take,  for  instance,  railroad  and  corporation 
laws.  Those  which  existed  half  a  century  ago  are  not  a 
tithe  of  those  which  now  exist,  and  perhaps  not  the 
hundredth  part  of  those  which  will  exist  half  a 
century  hence.  Even  in  the  older  and  long-settled 
states,  as  in  New  England,  even  in  England  herself, 
new  questions  are  constantly  arising  ;  much  more  so 
is  this  tfie  case  in  the  far  west,  and  especially  in  Cali 
fornia,  with  her  numberless  statutes  relating  to  mining 
and  irrigation.  In  early  days  the  civil  law  of  Spain, 
as  modified  by  Mexico  and  California,  was  the  one  in 
force.  There  were  no  law  libraries,  and  even  the 
language  in  which  the  statutes  and  laws  were 
expressed  was  but  little  understood.  Gradually  the 
civil  law  was  discarded,  or  consolidated  with  the 
common  law,  many  suits  begun  under  the  former 
being  concluded  under  the  latter.  In  fact,  a  new 
system  of  laws  has  been  developed,  especially  as  to 
land  titles,  for  many  years  a  fruitful  source  of 
litigation. 

As  to  the  functions  and  character  of  the  judiciary, 
Judge  Sawyer  remarked  at  a  meeting  of  the  asso 
ciated  alumni  of  the  Pacific  coast,  on  the  3d  of 
June  1868,  "  In  my  judgment  it  is  impossible  for  an 
enlightened  people  to  prize  too  highly  a  thoroughly 
capable,  watchful,  honest,  independent,  and  fearless 
judiciary.  Such  a  judiciary  is  not  only  the  safeguard 
and  the  hope  of  American  liberty,  but  is  the  princi 
pal  stay  and  support  of  freedom,  and  of  the  social 
fabric  every  where.  The  administration  of  justice  and 
its  handmaid,  religion,  although  perhaps  in  a  form  in 
some  degree  rudimental,  march  hand  in  hand  in  the 
van  of  civilization.  They  also  in  their  more  perfect 
development  constitute  the  crowning  glory  in  the 
meridian  splendor  of  every  enlightened  age.  As 
these  elements  in  the  social  economy  become  cor 
rupt,  gradually  decline  and  disappear,  the  twilight 
of  a  waning  civilization  again  shades  away  into  the 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  443 

ni^ht  of  barbarism.  There  can  be  no  assured  enjoy 
ment  of  civil  liberty,  no  social  security,  no  perma 
nently  advanced  stage  in  the  development  of  our 
race,  no  stability  in  the  institutions  of  civilization, 
where  there  is  no  honest,  effective,  and  fearless 
ad  ministration  of  the  law  ;  where  the  fountain  of 
justice  is  not  pure,  and  where  its  stream  is  not 
allowed  to  flow  freely  and  without  obstruction,  and 
unaffected  by  disturbing  influences.  On  the  other  hand, 
wherever  the  laws  are  faithfully  administered  by  a 
capable,  independent,  and  fearless  judiciary  ;  wherever 
strict  justice  is  meted  out  to  every  individual,  whether 
rich  or  poor,  high  or  low ;  wherever  the  thatched 
cottage  of  the  lowest  born  is  the  castle  of  the  pro 
prietor,  which,  while  the  winds  and  rain  may  enter, 
the  king  may  not ;  wherever  the  judiciary  is  no 
respecter  of  persons,  always  holding  the  scales  of  jus 
tice  even,  with  an  'eye  single  to  the  trepidations  of 
the  balance' — there  no  remnant  of  barbarism  will  be 
found.  In  the  words  of  one  who  clothed  his  great 
thoughts  in  language  second  only  in  terseness  and 
felicity  of  expression  to  that  of  him  who  spake  as 
never  man  spake:  'Justice  is  the  great  interest  of 
man  on  earth.  It  is  the  ligament  which  holds  civ 
ilized  beings  and  civilized  nations  together.  Wher 
ever  her  temple  stands,  and  so  long  as  it  is  duly 
honored,  there  is  a  foundation  for  social  security, 
general  happiness,  and  the  improvement  and  progress 
of  our  race.  And  whoever  labors  on  this  edifice  with 
usefulness  and  distinction — whoever  clears  its  founda 
tion,  strengthens  its  pillars,  adorns  its  entablatures,  or 
contributes  to  raise  its  august  dome  still  higher  in 
the  skies,  connects  himself  in  name  and  fame  and 
character  with  that  which  is  and  must  be  as  dur 
able  as  the  frame  of  human  society.' 

"  Mr  President,  since  justice  is  the  great  inter 
est  of  man  on  earth,  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that 
wherever  and  whenever  the  judiciary  has  been 
independent  and  untrammeled,  except  so  far  as  it  is 


444  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

bound  by  the  just  principles  of  the  law  itself,  there 
have  been  found  men  fully  equal  to  the  task  of  its 
intelligent  and  pure  administration.  True,  it  falls  to 
the  lot  of  but  few  in  any  one  generation  to  officiate 
in  the  highest  sanctuaries  of  justice,  and  to  fewer 
still  to  rival  those  judicial  Titans, 

'  The  law's  whole  thunder  born  to  wield.' 

"But,  sir,  I  cannot  believe  it  possible  that  one 
endowed  with  fair  natural  abilities,  a  sound  and 
unbiased  judgment,  who  has  cultivated  his  talents 
with  diligence  and  care,  and  become  well  grounded 
in  the  ethics  of  the  law,  who  has  risen  to  a  true  con 
ception  of  the  magnitude,  and  become  thoroughly  pen 
etrated  with  the  vast  importance  of  the  mission  of  the 
judiciary,  in  its  relation  to  the  well-being  of  man,  and 
the  stability  of  good  government,  can  make  a  bad 
judge.  Such  a  man  may  not  attain  to  the  summit 
of  judicial  greatness  ;  he  may  not  be  a  brilliant  lum 
inary,  shedding  his  light  afar,  imparting  aliment 
and  warmth  to  nourish  and  promote  the  administra 
tion,  of  justice  in  distant  lands;  but  he  cannot  fail 
to  be  a  worthy  judge,  and  useful  in  the  immediate 
sphere  of  his  influence  ;  he  cannot  fail  to  contribute 
in  some  degree  to  the  perpetuity  of  free  institutions." 

Sawyer's  reputation  as  a  jurist  has  long  since 
become  national,  and  among  other  recognitions  of 
his  attainments  and  services  it  may  be  mentioned 
that  in  1877  the  honorary  degree  of  doctor  of  laws 
was  conferred  upon  him  by  Hamilton  college  in 
New  York.  His  decisions,  as  contained  in  fourteen 
volumes  of  Sawyers  United  States  Courts'  Reports  and 
in  fifteen  volumes  of  the  California  Reports — volumes 
24  to  38  inclusive — are  among  the  classics  of  the  law. 
From  these  decisions  the  following  extracts  may  be 
of  interest.  In  the  case  of  Tiburcio  Parrott  on 
habeas  corpus,  arrested  for  employing  Chinamen,  in 
a  manner  prohibited  in  the  new  constitution,  his 
ruling  was  as  follows: 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  445 

"  Holding,  as  we  do,  that  the  constitutional  and 
statutory  provisions  in  question  are  void  for  reasons 
already  stated,  we  deem  it  proper  again  to  call  pub 
lic  attention  to  the  fact,  however  unpleasant  it  may 
be  to  the  very  great  majority  of  the  citizens  of  Cal 
ifornia,  that,  however  undesirable,  or  even  ultimately 
dangerous  to  our  civilization  an  unlimited  immi- 

O 

gration  of  Chinese  may  be,  the  remedy  is  not  with 
the  state  but  with  the  general  government.  The 
Chinese  have  a  perfect  right,  under  the  stipulations 
of  the  treaty,  to  reside  in  the  state  and  enjoy  all 
privileges,  immunities,  and  exemptions  that  may  be 
enjoyed  by  the  citizens  and  subjects  of  any  other 
nation ;  and  under  the  fourteenth  amendment  to 
the  national  constitution,  the  right  to  enjoy  life, 
liberty,  and  property,  and  the  equal  protection  of  the 
laws,  in  the  same  degree  and  to  the  same  extent  as 
these  rights  are  enjoyed  by  our  own  citizens.  To  per 
sist  in  state  legislation  in  direct  violation  of  treaty 
stipulations  and  of  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  endeavor  to  enforce  such  void  legis 
lation,  is  to  waste  efforts  in  a  barren  field,  which,  if 
expended  in  the  proper  direction,  might  be  produc 
tive  of  valuable  fruit,  and,  besides,  it  is  but  little 
short  of  incipient  rebellion." 

Among  his  most  exhaustive  decisions  was  the  one  in 
the  matter  of  Deputy  United  States  Marshall  Neagle 
on  habeas  corpus,  the  charge  against  him  being  the 
shooting  of  David  S.  Terry.  After  a  most  careful 
statement  of  the  facts  and  law  in  the  case,  including 
the  circumstances  under  which  Terry  was  shot,  he  con 
cludes:  "On  that  occasion  a  second,  or  two  seconds, 
signified  at  least  two  valuable  lives,  and  a  reasonable 
degree  of  prudence  would  justify  a  shot  one  or  two 
seconds  too  soon,  rather  than  one  or  two  seconds  too 
late.  Upon  our  minds  the  evidence  leaves  no  doubt 
whatever  that  the  homicide  was  fully  justified  by  the 
circumstances.  In  our  judgment  he  acted,  under  the 
trying  circumstances  surrounding  him,  in  good  faith, 


446  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

and  with  consummate  courage,  judgment,  and  discre 
tion.  The  homicide  was,  in  our  opinion,  clearly  justi 
fiable  in  law,  and  in  the  forum  of  sound,  practical, 
common  sense,  commendable.  This  being  so,  and  the 
act  having  been  done  in  pursuance  of  a  law  of  the 
United  States,  as  we  have  already  seen,  it  cannot  be 
an  offence  against,  and  he  is  not  amenable  to  the 
laws  of  the  state. 

*  'Let  the  petitioner  be  discharged. ' 

This  is  the  suit  of  Cunningham  versus  Neagle, 
wherein  the  propriety  of  killing  Terry  was  involved. 
Judge  Sawyer's  opinion  in  this  case,  as  affirmed  by 
the  supreme  court,  has  probably  been  more  widely  read 
than  any  that  has  been  delivered  from  the  bench  of 
the  United  States.  On  this  ruling  he  has  received 
complimentary  letters  from  every  section  of  the 
union,  from  Canada,  from  England,  Germany,  and 
other  European  countries,  and  even  from  Japan. 
The  stand  which  he  took  was  a  bold  one,  but  not 
more  so  than  the  occasion  demanded,  claiming  for  the 
national  government  all  the  powers  of  a  nation, 
including  that  of  self-protection  in  all  its  departments. 

In  politics  Judge  Sawyer  was  in  youth  a  whig,  a  dis 
ciple  of  Daniel  Webster,  Henry  Clay,  and  other  great 
leaders  of  the  party  whose  names  alone  are  dead,  and 
whose  principles  are  closely  blended  with  all  that  is 
best  worth  preserving  in  our  national  policy.  One  of 
those  who  organized  the  republican  party  in  1856, 
he  attended  the  Chicago  convention,  and  though  not 
a  delegate,  did  all  that  lay  within  his  power  to  secure 
the  nomination  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  In  his  political, 
as  in  his  judicial  career,  he  has  aimed  always  at  the 
right,  and  if  on  rare  occasions  his  judgment  has  been 
questioned,  none  have  ever  doubted  his  honesty  and 
sincerity. 

Since  1845  Judge  Sawyer  has  been  a  member  of 
the  society  of  odd  fellows,  and  since  1858  a  royal 
arch  mason.  Of  the  few  addresses  which  he  has 
made  in  public,  perhaps  the  one  which  has  been  most 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  447 

widely  read  and  commended,  one  that  was  compli 
mented  in  the  reports  of  all  the  grand  lodges  of  the 
United  States,  was  the  oration  delivered  in  October 
1879,  before  the  grand  lodge  of  California.  After 
tracing  in  choice  and  vigorous  language  the  history 
of  masonry,  from  the  days  of  Solomon  to  the  time 
when,  less  than  twenty  years  ago,  a  grand  lodge  of 
the  order  was  opened  under  the  shadow  of  the  Vati 
can,  he  continues: 

"Much  use  of  the  element  of  secrecy,  by  means  of 
which  brothers  of  the  fraternity  recognize  each  other 
among  strangers  and  protect  themselves  from 
imposition,  was  formerly  made  by  the  enemies  of  the 
order  for  the  purpose  of  inflaming  the  prejudices 
of  the  ignorant  and  the  jealous,  and  doubtless 
with  some  effect.  The  publication  of  the  proceed 
ings  of  the  grand  lodges  authorized  during  later 
years  has,  however,  tended  largely  to  allay  these 
prejudices.  In  these  published  proceedings  the 
essential  workings  of  the  order  are  laid  open  to 
public  examination  and  criticism;  and  no  one  can 
read  them  as  they  appear  from  year  to  year  without 
being  strongly  impressed  with  the  good  tendencies 
of  the  principles  of  masonry  in  all  their  practical, 
as  well  as  speculative,  workings,  as  is  there  made 
known  to  all.  We  are  no  propagandists.  We  extend 
a  special  invitation  to  no  man  to  enter  the  precincts 
of  masonry.  If  one  seeks  admission  to  our  society, 
it  is  unsolicited  and  of  his  own  free,  unbiased  will, 
after  a  full  investigation  of  our  principles  and  their 
practical  operation;  and  the  fact  that  so  many  intel 
ligent  men,  among  the  most  orderly  and  worthy  classes 
of  society,  seek  association  with  us  is  ample  evi 
dence  that  our  principles  meet  the  approbation  of  good 
men,  and  that  their  tendencies  are  all  to  good  order 
and  to  the  highest  interests  of  society  at  large.  Specu 
lative  masonry  is  not,  and  it  does  not  profess  to  be, 
a  religion  or  a  substitute  for  religion;  but  it  inculcates 
a  system  of  the  purest  morals,  which  is  an  essential 


448  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

element  and  necessary  concomitant  of  all  true  religion. 
There  are  certain  elements  or  principles  which  are 
universally  accepted  as  essential  to  all  systems  of 
faith  worthy  the  name  of  religion — such  as  a  belief 
in  a  supreme  being;  a  recognition  of  the  moral  dis 
tinction  between  right  and  wrong;  trie  obligation  to 
recognize  and  cultivate  the  practice  of  all  the  virtues, 
such  as  temperance,  sobriety,  chastity,  fortitude,  pru 
dence,  justice,  and,  chief  of  all,  charity.  On  these 
principles  all  must  and  do  agree,  There  are  other 
points  of  faith  upon  which  the  reason  may  and  does 
pause,  inquire,  doubt;  and  yet  it  is  upon  these  latter 
that  zealots  and  enthusiasts  dogmatize  most  confi 
dently,  dispute  most  furiously,  and  hate  most  impla 
cably.  It  is  upon  these  very  points  where  we 
should  be  most  distrustful  of  the  correctness  of  our 
judgment  and  most  charitable  toward  the  views  of 
others,  that  man  is  most  confident,  most  obstinate, 
most  uncompromising;  and  it  is  upon  these  where  he 
consigns  his  fellowman  to  the  dungeon,  stretches  him 
upon  the  rack,  and  burns  him  at  the  stake.  Into  that 
disputed  territory  masonry  does  not  enter.  Its  lead 
ing  tenet,  charity,  forbids;  all  its  principles  prohibit 
it.  It  accepts  and  plants  itself  upon  those  self- 
evident  and  universally  accepted  principles  which 
lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  true  religion  and  all 

o 

morality,  and  upon  the  recognition  and  practice  of 
which  all  human  happiness  must  rest.  It  earnestly 
and  constantly  inculcates  those  principles  in  its 
charges  in  the  lodge-room,  its  lectures,  orations,  and 
writings,  and  in  all  its  proceedings,  published  and 
unpublished.  It  admonishes  us  to  seek  after  truth, 
and  teaches  that  truth  is  an  attribute  of  divinity  and 
the  foundation  of  every  virtue.  In  the  language  of 
another,  already  familiar  to  you,  which  cannot  be 
improved  or  too  often  repeated  in  your  hearing,  the 
mason  '  is  instructed  to  put  a  due  restraint  upon  his 
affections  and  passions;  to  preserve  a  noble  and  steady 
purpose  of  mind,  equally  distant  from  cowardice  and 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  449 

rashness;  to  regulate  his  life  by  the  dictates  of  reason; 
and  to  render  to  every  man  his  just  due,  without  dis 
tinction.  In  short,  the  three  great  duties  of  life 
are  impressed  upon  his  conscience:  'reverence  to 
God,  the  chief  good;  kindness  to  his  neighbor,  as  pre 
scribed  by  the  golden  rule,  and  respect  for  himself, 
by  avoiding  irregularities  and  intemperance,  which 
impair  the  faculties  and  debase  the  dignity  of  his 
profession.' " 

One  of  Judge  Sawyer's  last  orations  was  at  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  Leland  Stanford 
Junior  university,  in  virtue  of  his  office  as  presi 
dent  of  the  board  of  trustees.  After  stating  the 
object  and  scope  of  the  institution,  he  said:  "  The 
little  grove  in  the  suburbs  of  Athens,  which  Acade- 
mus  presented  to  the  Athenians,  constituted  the 
academy  in  which  Socrates,  and  Plato,  and  their 
disciples  taught  their  pupils  philosophy,  rhetoric, 
logic,  poetry,  oratory,  mathematics,  the  fine  arts  and 
all  the  sciences  so  far  as  then  developed.  The  influ 
ence  emanating  from  those  schools,  notwithstanding 
their  limited  resources,  has  been  largely  felt  through 
all  succeeding  ages  ;  and  it  has,  to  this  day,  given 
direction  to  thought,  and  contributed  largely  to 
mold  the  characters  and  the  civil  institutions  of  all 
the  peoples  of  Europe,  and  their  descendants  in 
America,  and  wheresoever  else  they  may  be  found 
on  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  people  of  that  little 
republic  of  Attica, — the  whole  area  of  whose  territory 
was  only  about  two-thirds  as  large  as  that  of  the 
county  of  Santa  Clara,  in  which  our  coming  uni 
versity  is  located — exercised  a  greater  influence 
over  the  civilization,  institutions,  and  destinies  of 
modern  nations  than  any  other  people,  however 
great. 

"  The  groves  of  Palo  Alto — the  tall  tree — are 
much  larger  than  Academus'  sacred  shade.  These 
sturdy,  umbrageous  oaks,  with  Briarean  arms  ;  these 
stalwart,  spreading  laurels,  and  these  tall  eucalypti 

C.  B.— II.    29 


450  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

are  much  grander  and  more  imposing  than  the 
arbor-tenants  of  the  grove  at  Athens.  The  soil  of 
Palo  Alto  is  far  richer,  and  more  productive  than 
that  of  Attica ;  it  yields  as  fine  wheat,  as  delicious 
figs,  grapes,  olives,  and  other  fruits.  Its  scenery 
is  almost  as  grand  and  awe-inspiring,  and 
quite  as  picturesque.  Its  climate  is  as  dry,  equable, 
and  delightful.  The  arroyo  de  San  Francisquito  is 
as  flush  and  turbulent  in  winter,  if — although 
abundantly  supplied  for  all  purposes  of  the  university 
above — as  waterless  in  its  lower  reaches  in  summer 
as  the  two  rivulets  Cephissus  and  Ilissus.  The 
transparent  clearness  and  coloring  of  our  sky  is  as 
matchless  as  that  of  Attica,  and  the  azure  dome 
above  our  heads  by  day  or  night  is  as  pure  and  as 
brilliant  as  the  violet  crown  of  Athens.  All  our  con 
ditions  are  equally  favorable  to  health,  to  physical 
and  mental  development,  and  to  physical  and  mental 
enjoyment.  Not  an  hour  in  the  year  is  so  cold  as  to 
interfere  with  mental  or  physical  labor,  nor  an  hour 
so  hot  as  to  render  one  languid,  indisposed  to  physi 
cal  or  mental  exertion,  or  as  to  dull  the  edge  of 
thought.  There  is  not  a  place  in  our  broad  land 
outside  our  own  beloved  state,  where  one  can  per 
form  so  much  continuous  physical  or  mental  labor 
without  weariness  or  irksomeness.  Should  the 
plans  of  the  founders  of  the  Leland  Stanford 
Junior  university  be  carried  out  in  accordance 
with  their  grand  conceptions,  with  such  advan 
tages  as  the  location  and  climate  afford,  why  should  not 
students  be  attracted  to  its  portals,  not  only  from  Cali 
fornia,  but  from  all  other  states  of  our  vast  country, 
now  containing  60,000,000  of  people,  and  even  from 
foreign  lands  ?  What  should  prevent  this  university 
from  becoming  in  the  great  future  the  first  in  this,  or 
any  other  land  ?  When  fully  developed,  who  can 
estimate  its  influence  for  good  upon  the  destinies  of 
the  human  race  ? 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  451 

"A  word  to  the  founders  of  the  Leland  Stanford 
Junior  university.  It  is  fit  that  the  corner-stone  of 
this  edifice  should  be  laid  on  the  anniversary  of  the 
birth  of  him,  who,  while  yet  a  mere  youth,  first  sug 
gested  the  founding  of  a  university — a  suggestion 
upon  which  you  have  nobly  acted,  and  to  the  estab 
lishment  of  which  you  have  devoted  so  large  a  por 
tion  of  the  accumulations  of  a  most  energetic,  active, 
and  trying  life.  It  is  eminently  fit  that  an  institu 
tion  founded  and  endowed  on  that  suggestion  should 
bear  his  name.  The  ways  of  providence  are  inscru 
table.  Under  divine  guidance  his  special  mission  on 
earth  may  have  been  to  wake  and  set  in  motion  those 
slumbering  sentiments  and  moral  forces  which  have 
so  grandly  responded  to  the  impetus  given,  by  devot 
ing  so  large  a  portion  of  your  acquisitions,  and  the 
remainder  of  your  lives  to  the  realization  of  the  object 
thus  suggested.  If  so,  his  mission  has  been  nobly  per 
formed,  and  it  is  fit  that  both  his  name  and  the 
names  of  those  who  have  executed  his  behests  should 
be  enrolled  high  upoa  the  scroll  of  fame,  and  of  the 
benefactors  of  the  human  race.  You  have  wisely 
determined,  during  your  lives,  to  manage  and  control 
for  yourselves  the  funds  of  the  foundation  ;  to  super 
vise  and  direct  the  arrangement  and  construction  of 
the  buildings  and  the  required  adjuncts,  and  to  super 
intend  and  give  direction  to  the  early  development 
and  workings  of  the  new  university.  This  is  well. 
He  who  conceives  is  the  one  to  successfully  execute. 
May  you  remain  among  us  to  manage  and  control 
this  great  work,  until  you  shall  see  the  institution 
founded  by  your  bounty  firmly  established  on  an 
immovable  basis,  enjoying  a  full  measure  of  prosper 
ity,  affording  the  citizens  of  your  adopted  state  the 
educational  advantages  contemplated,  and  dispensing 
to  all  the  blessings  and  benign  influences  that  ought 
to  flow  from  such  institutions.  Long  may  you  enjoy 
the  satisfaction  afforded  by  hopes  fully  realized — 
Seri  in  caslum  redeatis. 


452  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

"  Fellow-members  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the 
Leland  Stanford  Junior  university,  in  accepting  this 
grand  trust  you  have  assumed  the  most  weighty 
responsibilities,  not  only  to  the  founders  of  the  uni 
versity,  but  to  the  children  and  youth  of  the  com 
monwealth  and  to  their  posterity  in  all  time  to  come. 
You  have  assumed  the  guardianship  of  the  vast  inher 
itance  to  which  they  have  fallen  heirs.  In  the  near 
future,  and  thenceforth  till  time  shall  be  no  more,  the 
duty  will  devolve  upon  us  and  our  successors  to 
administer  this  inheritance  in  such  manner  as  to 
accomplish  its  great  ends. 

"  Should  we  succeed  in  establishing  and  fully 
developing  the  new  university  in  accordance  with  the 
conception  and  purposes  of  its  founders — as  succeed 
we  must  with  proper  efforts,  and  proper  management, 
and  with  the  aid  and  blessing  of  the  omnipotent  and 
all-wise  being,  who  created  all  things,  and  without 
whose  approval  we  can  accomplish  nothing — its 
power  for  good  will  go  on  from  age  to  age  to  the  end 
of  time  increasing  and  expanding  until  no  corner  of 
this  broad  earth  will  be  beyond  its  humanizing,  ele 
vating,  and  benign  influences.  Invoking  the  divine 
blessing  on  our  work,  let  all  put  forth  a  united  con 
tinued  effort  to  secure  a  consummation  so  devoutly  to 
be  wished.  When  this  shall  have  been  done,  and  the 
Leland  Stanford  Junior  university  shall  have  been 
once  securely  established  upon  a  firm  and  stable  basis, 
we  may  exclaim  with  unhesitating  confidence  that  the 
idea  will  be  fully  realized,  esto  perpetua !  " 

It  was  in  1861,  as  I  have  said,  that  Judge  Sawyer 
first  made  the  acquaintance  of  Senator  Stanford,  and 
in  the  great  railroad  enterprise  of  which  the  latter  was 
one  of  the  projectors,  he  rendered  most  valuable 
assistance.  When  ground  was  broken  in  February 
1863,  the  project  was  regarded  rather  as  a  joke  than 
as  a  serious  undertaking.  The  efforts  made  by 
Governor  Stanford  and  his  associates  to  secure  the 
aid  of  San  Francisco  capitalists  were  utterly  without 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  453 

avail.  Still  they  pressed  on  until,  when  the  line  was 
completed  to  Newcastle,  their  funds  were  exhausted. 
Had  it  stopped  there,  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  we 
should  have  had  a  transcontinental  railroad  to-day, 
and  it  is  certain  that  its  construction  would  have  been 
delayed  for  many  years.  No  movement  had  been 
made  on  the  other  side  until  it  was  fully  demon 
strated  on  this  side  that  the  road  would  be  built. 
At  this  juncture,  in  April  1864,  an  act  was  passed 
whereby  the  state  became  responsible  for  the  inter 
est  on  $1,500,000  of  bonds.  The  measure  was 
vigorously  assailed  and  by  many  pronounced  uncon 
stitutional.  A  bill  was  immediately  filed  by  the 
attorney-general  to  restrain  the  issue  of  the  bonds, 
and  on  both  sides  the  case  was  ably  and  elaborately 
argued,  the  judges  failing  to  reach  a  conclusion. 
Finally  Judge  Sawyer  took  up  the  matter,  for  it  was 
one  in  which  he  felt  the  deepest  interest,  knowing,  as 
he  did,  that  the  building  of  the  road  depended  on  the 
result.  After  a  careful  study  of  the  statute  he  decided 
that  it  was  constitutional  and  in  this  opinion  he  was 
sustained  by  the  other  judges,  with  but  a  single  and 
that  only  a  partial  exception.  The  Central  Pacific 
was  thus  enabled  to  carry  forward  its  work  to  the 
point  where  the  government  subsidy  became  avail 
able,  and  that  work  was  never  interrupted  until  the 
last  spike  was  driven. 

On  the  day  when  the  first  pick  was  driven  into 
the  ground  at  Cape  Horn,  Judge  Sawyer  stood  on 
its  summit,  looking  down  upon  this  work,  and  for 
several  days  he  was  in  company  with  the  engineers 
when  locating  the  route  around  Donner  lake,  and 
deciding  on  which  side  of  its  waters  the  line  should 
be  extended  into  the  valley  below.  From  its  incep 
tion  until  its  completion  he  watched  with  the  deepest 
interest  the  progress  of  the  greatest  railroad  enter 
prise  of  the  age,  and  to  him  it  has  been  a  source  of 
satisfaction  that  he  was  enabled  to  contribute  to  its 
success. 


454  GOVERNMENT- CALIFORNIA. 

On  the  10th  of  May  1869,  when  the  Central  joined 
hands  with  the  Union  Pacific,  he  thus  wrote  to  his 
cousin,  the  former  president  of  Central  college,  Ohio  : 
"  The  great  work  has  been  accomplished.  The  last 
rail  has  been  laid,  the  last  spike  driven,  and  the  iron 
wedding  of  the  east  and  the  west  has  this  day  been 
consummated.  We  are  now  united  by  iron  bands, 
never  more  to  be  severed.  Wonderful  achievement  I 
What  a  change  in  twenty  years  I  What  a  contrast 
between  the  weary  journeying  of  months'  duration, 
by  the  pilgrims  of  1850,  whose  jaded  animals,  'like 
a  wounded  snake,  dragged  their  slow  lengths  along,' 
and  the  lightning  speed  with  which  the  iron  horse, 
'like  swift  Camilla,  skims  o'er  the  plain.'  In  1850  the 
emigrant  to  the  Pacific  shores  required  from  four  to 
six.  months  to  make  the  journey  from  the  Missouri 
river  to  Sacramento.  Now  that  trip  will  be  made  in 
four  days.  Only  six  years  have  been  occupied  in  con 
structing  that  stupendous  work,  the  transcontinental 
railroad.  Almost  at  the  very  outset  our  company  had 
to  surmount  the  Sierra  Nevada,  clad  with  almost 
perpetual  snow,  commencing  to  climb  the  foothills  of 
this  lofty  range  within  six  miles  of  the  starting  point. 
Their  iron  and  most  of  their  other  materials  had  to  be 
brought  around  Cape  Horn.  Yet  we  have  met  you 
nearly  in  the  center  of  the  continent. 

"  This  is  a  proud  day  for  our  youthful  state.  To 
her  belongs  the  honor  of  furnishing  the  men  who  had 
the  prescience  to  comprehend,  the  courage  to  under 
take,  and  the  energy  and  perseverance  to  prosecute 
the  great  work  to  its  completion.  What  the  Erie 
canal  was  to  New  York,  will  this  greater  undertaking 
be  to  the  United  States  at  large.  The  names  of 
Stanford  and  Judah,  of  Huntington,  Hopkins,  and  the 
two  Crockers  deserve  a  place  in  history  by  the  side  of 
Clinton.  I  am  proud  also  that  several  of  them  are 
from  New  York,  and  that  Hopkins  is  a  native  of  our 
own  Jefferson  county," 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  455 

Many  times  since  the  completion  of  the  railroad,  and 
twice,  as  I  have  said,  before  that  event,  Judge  Sawyer 
visited  the  eastern  states.  The  first  occasion  was  in 
1855,  and  the  second  in  1857,  when,  as  he  thought,  he 
went  home  to  remain  in  company  with  his  newly 
married  wife,  Mrs  Jennie  M.  Aldrich,  whose  acquaint 
ance  he  made  in  Nevada  city,  and  whose  decease 
occurred  in  1876.  Of  their  three  sons  Wellbourne, 
the  eldest,  was  killed  by  an  accident,  and  the  two 
survivors,  Prescott  and  Houghton,  were  so  named 
after  two  of  the  pioneer  settlers  of  Lancaster,  Massa 
chusetts. 

Judge  Sawyer's  last  trip  to  the  east  was  in  the 
spring  of  1890,  when  he  was  accompanied  by  Hough- 
ton,  then  only  eighteen  years  of  age,  but  already  the 
inventor  and  patentee  of  an  improvementin  cable  roads. 
Already  an  expert  electrician,  it  is  his  intention  to 
follow  in  that  department  the  profession  of  an  engin 
eer.  Nearly  half  a  century  before  the  judge  had 
been  a  resident  of  Chicago,  and  visiting  that  city  in 
May  1890,  was  entertained  at  dinner  by  members  of 
the  bar  association,  among  them  his  former  pupil, 
Judge  James  B.  Bradwell.  By  him  a  letter  was 
addressed  to  Judge  Sawyer  some  few  months  before, 
inquiring  whether  he  had  not  at  an  exhibition  in 
early  days,  acted  the  part  of  judge  in  the  comedy 
of  the  "  Hoosier  Court.  "  From  Sawyer's  answer 
as  published  in  the  Chicago  Legal  News  I  extract 
the  following: 

"I  was  a  tutor  at  Wilson's  academy  during  the 
spring  of  1847,  and  at  the  close  of  the  term  had 
the  honor  of  presiding  over  the  *  Hoosier  Court,' 
to  which  you  refer.  At  that  time  I  had  not  the 
remotest  idea  that  I  should  ever  preside  over  anv 
other  judicial  tribunal ;  yet  it  has-  fallen  to  my  lot  to 
preside  as  judge  over  judicial  tribunals,  state  or 
national,  for  twenty- eight  years — twenty  of  them 
as  United  States  circuit  judge  for  the  9th  circuit. 
Heretofore  I  have  had  four  very  large  districts  in 


456  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

my  circuit,  requiring  over  6,000  miles  of  travel  each 
year  to  hold  all  my  terms.  Now  the  new  states 
of  Montana  and  Washington  have  been  annexed, 
and  if  Idaho  should  be  admitted,  as  is  probable  next 
winter,  it  will  also  be  attached  to  my  circuit.  My 
jurisdiction  is  therefore  considerably  larger  than  it 
was  when  judge  of  the  '  Hoosier  Court.'  Indeed 
I  believe  I  have  the  largest  territorial  jurisdiction 
of  any  court  in  the  world.  I  have  jurisdiction  of 
all  offences  committed  anywhere  in  the  world  on 
the  high  seas,  as  well  as  appellate  jurisdiction  in 
cases  in  admiralty  arising  on  the  high  seas.  As  cir 
cuit  judge  for  the  district  of  Oregon,  I  have  appel 
late  jurisdiction  from  Alaska,  including  the  Behring 
sea.  As  circuit  judge  for  the  district  of  California,  I 
have  final  appellate  jurisdiction  from  the  judgments 
and  decrees  of  the  consular  and  ministerial  courts  of 
China  and  Japan,  and  often  have  appeals  from  those 
courts.  Also  final  and  appellate  jurisdiction  from  the 
consular  and  ministerial  courts  of  all  northern  Africa, 
including  Egypt  and  the  Barbary  states,  and  from 
the  same  courts  in  the  empires  of  Turkey  and  Persia. 
Quite  a  change  since  the  days  of  the  '  Hoosier 
Court.' " 

If  when  duty  required  in  his  official  capacity  Judge 
Sawyer  has  been  stern  and  inflexible,  in  private  life 
he  is  the  very  embodiment  of  kindliness  and  sim 
plicity.  One  of  the  oldest  and  most  respected  mem 
bers  of  the  judiciary,  he  is  none  the  less  respected 
among  the  chosen  circle  of  his  intimate  friends. 
While  in  that  circle  the  dignity  of  office  is  laid  aside, 
and  in  its  place  is  a  gentleness  and  affection  that 
have  won  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew  him,  have 
called  forth  esteem  that  has  ripened  almost  into 
reverence.  Too  often  is  it  the  case  that  the  majesty 
of  public  station  fades  amid  the  intimacies  of  family 
life;  but  not  so  in  his,  for  here  are  no  vices  or 
weaknesses  to  be  glossed  over  or  concealed.  Pure 


LORENZO  SAWYER.  457 

as  his  administration  has  been  his  private  life,  sim 
ple  and  abstemious  his  habits,  and  there  are  none 
of  whom  it  can  more  truly  be  said  that  he  has 
kept  himself  unspotted  from  the  world. 

Now  at  the  age  allotted  as  the  limit  of  man's 
earthly  career,  his  faculties  are  still  unimpaired  and 
he  may  yet  live  to  adorn,  for  many  years  to  come, 
the  profession  to  which  he  has  imparted  so  much 
of  its  tone  and  repute.  He  may  live,  as  he  him 
self  remarked  to  the  alumni,  unconsciously  depict 
ing  his  own  career,  to  secure  the  sanctuaries  of 
justice  from  profanation,  to  guard  their  portals  from 
the  intrusion  of  the  unworthy,  and  to  proclaim  to  the 
unsanctified,  Procul,  0  procul  esto,  prof  anil  Let 
us  hope  that  it  may  be  so,  for  such  men  his  country 
needs ;  men  who  so  far  as  it  is  given  to  erring 
humanity,  bring  to  these,  our  earthly  tribunals,  the 
qualities  which  in  their  highest  development,  belong 
only  to  the  great  tribunal  from  which  there  is  no 
appeal. 


CHAPTER  V. 

LIFE   OF  JOHN  G.   DOWNEY. 

POLITICAL  CAMPAIGN  OF  1859 — PARENTAGE,  ANCESTRY,  AND  EDUCATION — 
BUSINESS  APPRENTICESHIP — JOURNEY  TO  CALIFORNIA — EARLY  EXPERI 
ENCE—AT  Los  ANGELES — REAL  ESTATE  AND  BUILDING — MRS  DOWNEY 
— POLITICAL  CAREER— THE  PARSONS  BULKHEAD  BILL — OPINIONS  OF  THE 
PRESS— APPROBATION  OF  THE  GOVERNOR'S  POLICY. 

"THAT  character  is  power,"  it  has  been  well 
remarked,  "  is  true  in  a  much  higher  sense  than  that 
knowledge  is  power."  The  mere  possession  of  intel 
ligence  without  the  moral  worth  which  should  accom 
pany  it,  of  mind  without  heart,  of  ability  without  the 
safeguards  which  should  control  it,  are,  indeed,  powers 
of  themselves,  though  too  often  powers  for  evil. 
Integrity,  uprightness,  and  a  strict  regard  for  truth, 
or,  as  an  old  writer  puts  it,  "that  inbred  loyalty  to 
virtue  which  can  serve  her  without  a  livery,"  consti 
tute  the  truest  nobiliby  of  character,  and  he  who  is 
the  possessor  of  such  qualities,  when  united  with  force 
of  will,  wields  an  influence  for  good  that  cannot  fail 
to  leave  its  impress.  Such  men  come  not  in  troops, 
not  many,  perhaps  not  one  in  a  lifetime,  but  a  single 
individual,  whose  moral  nature  has  been  fashioned  in 
such  a  mould,  is  worth  a  myriad  of  the  baser  sort. 

It  is  a  well-known  saying  that  "a  man  is  already 
of  consequence  in  the  world  when  it  is  known  that  we 
can  implicitly  rely  upon  him."  And  more  especially 
is  this  quality  valuable  in  those  who  control  the 
affairs  of  state  or  nation. 

C468) 


JOHN  G.  DOWNEY.  459 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  exciting  scenes,  when  on  the 
14th  day  of  January  1860,  John  G.  Downey  took 
his  seat  as  the  governor  of  California.  The  most 
momentous  issues  of  state  and  nation  were  at  stake. 
At  home  the  blood  set  boiling  by  one  of  the  most 
notable  campaigns  of  California's  political  history  had 
not  yet  cooled,  while  far  away  was  heard  the  low 
rumble  of  coming  civil  strife.  The  spirit  of  chiv 
alry  had  not  wholly  departed.  The  bowie-knife  and 
revolver  were  still  elements  in  the  formation  and 
maintenance  of  opinion.  The  question  of  slavery  was 
paramount  over  all.  Political  parties  and  personal 
feeling  were  alike  profoundly  moved.  All  felt  that  a 
turning  point  in  the  destinies  of  the  nation  had  been 
reached. 

Champions  of  their  respective  parties  were  the 
United  States  senators,  David  C.  Broderick,  anti- 
Lecompton,  or  anti-slavery  democrat,  and  William  M. 
Gwin,  whose  agents  managed  the  pro-slavery  division 
of  the  democrats.  The  gubernatorial  election  of 
1859  had  returned  Milton  S.  Latham  for  governor, 
and  John  G.  Downey  lieutenant-governor,  over  the 
republican  candidates  Leland  Stanford  for  governor, 
and  James  F.  Kennedy  for  lieutenant-governor. 
Broderick  and  Gwin  had  both  come  on  from  Wash 
ington  to  take  part  in  the  canvass,  which  became  very 
heated  and  early  threatened  bloodshed.  A  devoted 
follower  of  Gwin,  and  consequently  an  enemy  of  his 
rival,  was  David  S.  Terry,  judge  of  the  supreme 
court. 

As  the  campaign  proceeded,  and  the  combatants 
waxed  hotter,  a  quarrel  arose  between  Terry  and 
Broderick,  leading  to  a  duel,  which  resulted  in  the 
death  of  the  latter.  The  seat  in  the  United  States 
senate  thus  made  vacant  was  filled  temporarily  by 
Henry  P.  Haun ;  but  on  the  day  after  Latham's 
inauguration  as  governor  of  California  the  legislature 
in  joint  convention  elected  him  to  Broderick's  late 
position,  and  he  at  once  vacated  the  executive  office, 


460  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

thus  constituting  John  G.  Downey  the  seventh  gov 
ernor  of  the  state. 

The  man  thus  elevated  to  the  highest  office  of  the 

o 

state  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  having  been  born  in 
his  grandfather's  house  called  Castle  Sampson,  county 
Roscommon,  June  24,  1827.  His  father's  name  was 
Dennis  Downey  and  his  mother's  Bridget  Gately. 
Among  his  ancestors  were  several,  as  early  as  the 
ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  distinguished  as  chiefs, 
bishops,  and  abbots.  Castle  Sampson  was  a  story 
and  a  half  house,  built  of  cut  stone,  the  material  hav 
ing  been  taken  from  an  old  Norman  castle.  Dennis 
Downey  was  as  fine  a  looking  man  as  the  country 
could  boast,  standing  five  feet  eight  inches  in  his 
stocking-feet,  and  being  able  to  jump  into  the  saddle 
while  the  horse  was  in  full  run.  And  he  was  as 
strong  mentally  as  physically.  The  family  were  all 
catholics,  and  well  educated,  Governor  Downey's 
grandfather  having  kept  his  children  at  school  until 
they  were  twenty-one. 

The  boy  John  was  brought  up  to  work;  indeed, 
few  men  in  America  are  found  having  accomplished 
anything  in  life  who  did  not  learn  the  lessons  of  appli 
cation  in  early  life.  All  kinds  of  farm  work  became 
familiar  to  him,  haying,  ploughing,  and  raising  stock. 

After  a  preliminary  education  under  the  eminently 
practical  system  maintained  in  the  national  schools  of 
Ireland,  John  came  to  America,  whither  two  half-sis 
ters  had  preceded  him,  in  1842,  and  attended  a  Latin 
school  in  Maryland  under  the  tuition  of  a  Mr 
Cochran.  He  walked  three  miles  to  school,  carry 
ing  his  luncheon  and  books.  In  his  studies  his 
tastes  leaned  toward  the  classics  rather  than  toward 
mathematics. 

His  sisters  desired  him  to  become  a  priest,  in  which 
calling,  as  I  have  said,  his  relatives  had  been  emi- 

O '  ' 

nent;  but  John's  inclinations  were  not  in  that  direc 
tion,  and  he  was  apprenticed  to  learn  the  drug  busi 
ness  in  Washington  with  John  F.  Callan.  Next  he 


JOHN  G.  DOWNEY.  461 

went  south,  and  spent  a  year  in  a  drug  and  stationery 
store  at  Vicksburg.  In  1846  he  turned  his  face 
westward,  pausing  for  three  years  at  Cincinnati, 
where  he  was  full  business  partner  with  a  kind  old 
Scotchman,  John  Darling.  In  1849  he  came  on  to 
California. 

All  through  his  earlier  life  his  mind  had  been  filled 
with  visions  of  broad  acres  as  the  only  real  and 
proper  foundation  for  wealth  and  prosperity ;  and 
although  it  was  the  gold  excitement  which  first 
directed  his  attention  to  the  Pacific  coast,  land 
rather  than  metal  was  uppermost  in  his  mind  as  the 
ultimate  purpose.  Darling  had  endeavored  to  dis 
suade  him  from  going  to  California,  but  Downey  felt 
that  in  this  favored  land  he  could  best  achieve  his 
destiny.  And  it  was  a  rare  intelligence  that  thus 
early  in  life  led  him  to  rest  his  fortunes  on  the  sub 
stantial  property  of  land  rather  than  give  himself  up 
to  glittering  allurements  of  gold. 

The  journey  was  made  by  way  of  the  Isthmus,  with 
a  little  time  spent  at  New  Orleans  and  Habana. 
From  Panamd,  his  steamer  on  the  Pacific  side,  the 
IfV.s^  Point,  failing  to  make  her  connection,  he  was 
obliged  to  proceed  on  the  old  store-ship  Sarah  to  San 
Francisco,  the  voyage  occupying  eighty-seven  days. 

Downey  had  just  ten  dollars  in  silver,  and  a  gold 
watch,  when  he  landed  in  San  Francisco.  Of  course 
he  must  see  the  mines,  if  only  to  take  a  dose  and 
become  sick  of  them.  So  he  pawned  his  watch  for 
sixty  dollars,  went  to  Sacramento,  thence  to  Marys- 
ville  and  Grass  Valley,  and  after  a  short  experience 
of  working  in  water  up  to  his  knees,  and  getting  little 
for  it,  he  was  satisfied  he  had  enough  of  it,  hence 
returning  to  Sacramento,  he  rolled  barrels  on  the 
levee  for  passage-money  back  to  the  bay.  For  two 
weeks  he  clerked  for  a  Jew,  after  which  he  obtained 
employment  in  the  wholesale  drug-house  of  Henry 
Johnson  &  Co.  on  Dupont  street. 

With  such  an  experience  and  such  a  position  most 


462  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

men  of  that  period  would  have  been  content ;  but  not 
so  Downey.  Gold  mining  and  its  more  immediate 
influences  and  results  might  do  for  those  more  imbued 
than  he  with  the  gambling  spirit  of  the  Inferno;  for 
him  a  broad  expanse  of  good  land  under  a  beautiful 
and  beneficent  sky  was  still  the  dominant  idea. 

One  day  he  picked  up  a  little  paper  pi  in  ted  at  Los 
Angeles  which  gave  some  account  of  southern  Cali 
fornia.  His  attention  was  instantly  arrested.  He 
read  on,  made  inquiries,  and  thought,  and  read  again, 
becoming  more  and  more  satisfied  that  here  was  what 
he  wanted.  Among  others  on  whom  he  called  to  ask 
information  was  W.  D.  M.  Howard,  who  knew  all 
about  the  country. 

"  What  in  the  world  do  you  want  to  go  there  for 
with  your  drugs?"  Howard  asked.  "It  is  the 
healthiest  country  in  the  world." 

"Well,  tell  me  how  many  people  are  now  there," 
Downey  replied,  "  and  I  will  teach  them  how  to  take 
medicine." 

Learning  of  an  invoice  of  goods  shipped  to  a 
glutted  market  from  Philadelphia,  Downey  bought 
it  for  twenty  per  cent  less  than  original  cost,  and  pro 
ceeding  to  Los  Angeles  he  opened  a  drug-store. 
This  was  in  1850.  The  voyage  down  by  schooner 
had  occupied  three  weeks,  and  he  walked  a  good  por 
tion  of  the  way  from  San  Pedro  to  save  ten  dollars. 
Such  was  the  entry  into  Los  Angeles  of  one  of  its 
first  citizens. 

But  the  country  around  and  beyond,  ahl  there 
were  the  health  and  beauty  satisfying  to  the  heart  of 
the  enterprising  young  man.  It  was  December,  and 
the  world  was  all  abloom — I  need  not  pause  here  to 
describe  Los  Angeles  in  December. 

Downey  at  once  found  a  business  associate  in  Dr 
McFarland  of  Tennessee,  and  they  made  a  fine  show 
ing  with  their  $1,800  of  stock  on  the  property  owned 
by  B.  D.  Wilson.  It  was  then  the  only  drug  store 
between  San  Francisco  and  Sau  Diego,  and  people 


JOHN  G.  DOWNEY.  463 

used  to  come  all  the  way  from  Sonora  for  medicines. 
At  the  end  of  three  years  Downey  had  thirty  thou 
sand  dollars. 

He  then  sold  out  the  drug-store  and  engaged  in 
cattle  and  sheepraising.  He  was  now  in  his  element, 
besides  being  on  the  highway  to  fortune.  We  cannot 
help  being  struck  by  the  singular  foresight,  amount 
ing  almost  to  inspiration,  which  prompted  a  young 
ambitious  man  to  leave  the  exciting  scenes  attending 
gold-mining  up  the  Sacramento,  the  speculations  of 
commerce  and  real  estate  in  San  Francisco,  and  also 
a  remarkably  prosperous  business  career  in  Los 
Angeles,  and  bury  himself  in  the  country  amid  his 
lands  and  herds.  But  so  it  was,  although  it  took 
some  others  two  or  three  decades  to  see  the  wisdom 
of  it. 

When  Downey  prophesied  that  ere  long  Los 
Angeles  would  be  a  city  of  40,000  inhabitants,  the 
centre  of  education  and  refinement  for  all  this  wide 
section,  he  was  laughed  at.  But  he  went  his  way, 
following  the  bent  of  his  rare  intelligence.  He  bought 
land  all  around  where  the  city  of  Downey  now  is, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Wilmington  and  San  Pedro,  and 
elsewhere,  until  in  the  end  his  acres  numbered  75,000, 
besides  a  large  amount  of  city  property.  His  Santa 
Gertrudes  rancho,  adjoining  the  Stearns  rancho,  is 
renowned  for  its  beauty  and  wealth  of  resource,  and 
for  its  mineral  hot  springs.  He  delivered  addresses 
and  wrote  articles  tending  to  advance  the  well-being 
of  the  country.  He  published  a  pamphlet  on  the 
peculiar  advantages  here  offered,  which  was  distrib 
uted  near  and  far.  With  mind  and  heart  full  of  the 
substantial  charms  of  climate  and  soil,  he  discussed  the 
attractive  features  of  the  country  in  his  graphic  and 
cogent  style,  which  had  a  marked  effect  in  bringing 
about  the  present  prosperous  state  of  things.  He 
was  always  first  among  those  who  took  practical  and 
business-like  steps  toward  the  accomplishment  of  this 
end.  He  was  in  favor  of  a  division  of  the  state, 


464  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

believing  that  the  northern  and  southern  sections  had 
not  that  identity  of  interests  that  warranted  their 
remaining  politically  together.  He  was  the  first  to 
cut  up  his  land  into  small  tracts,  selling  it  at  ten  dol 
lars  an  acre,  and  giving  the  buyer  ten  years  in  which 
to  pay  for  it.  This  was  the  very  beginning  of  the 
prosperity  of  the  country.  The  colony  at  Anaheim 
was  the  result  of  these  enlightened  and  far-reaching 
measures,  the  founders  being  entertained  and  encour 
aged  by  him,  and  the  place  being  named  in  honor  of 
his  sister.  The  first  important  building  in  Los 
Angeles  was  the  Downey  block,  began  in  1869.  The 
site  was  selected  as  the  assured  centre,  whichever 
way  the  town  might  grow.  It  cost  $16,500,  and  he 
had  ten  years  in  which  to  pay  for  it.  He  erected 
one  part  and  then  another,  finishing  it  up  as  the  rents 
came  in.  He  had  no  architect  or  contractor,  but  super 
intended  it  all  himself,  the  work  being  done  by  the  day. 
Governor  Downey  was  first  married  in  1852  at 
Los  Angeles,  to  Miss  Guirado,  a  native  of  Los 
Angeles  county,  and  daughter  of  Don  Rafael  Gui 
rado,  who  came  from  Sonoraand  settled  here  in  1835. 
Mrs  Downey  possessed  much  grace  and  charm  of 
manner,  and  sustained  the  high  position  she  was 
called  upon  to  fill  at  the  state  capital  with  courtesy 
and  dignity.  She  was  also  distinguished  at  Los 
Angeles  for  her  piety  and  benevolence;  and  on  the 
occasion  of  her  sad  death,  which  occurred  in  an  acci 
dent  on  the  Southern  Pacific  railway,  near  Tehachapi, 
January  20,  1883,  many  eloquent  and  heartfelt  ex 
pressions  of  sorrow  from  her  wide  circle  of  acquaint 
ances  testified  to  the  high  place  she  had  occupied  in 
their  esteem.  Her  wedded  life  was  unblessed  with 
children,  and  she  was  especially  kind  to  the  orphan. 
Governor  Downey  was  on  the  same  train,  and  suffered 
in  the  disaster  by  having  several  ribs  broken,  and  his 
constitution  so  shattered  that  he  has  never  entirely 

%/ 

recovered.     To  his  present  wife,  Rosa  V.  Kelley,  he 
was  married  in  the  spring  of  1888, 


JOHN  G.  DOWNEY.  465 

Men  who,  like  John  G.  Downey,  while  building  up 
themselves  are  building  up  the  commonwealth,  who, 
while  achieving  fortune,  are  assisting  in  laying  broader 
and  deeper  the  foundations  of  the  state  and  nation,  of 
liberal  ideas  and  free  institutions,  hardly  realize  the 
grandeur  of  their  position,  or  the  proud  possibilities 
flowing  from  them  and  their  work.  Look  along  the 
annals  of  our  country,  and  see  how  in  certain  instances 
the  character  and  actions  of  men  have  affected  the  des 
tinies  of  the  people.  In  the  development  of  our  coast 
the  story  is  told  of  an  extensive  miner  who,  from  dis 
appointment  and  loss  of  courage  under  failure,  poi 
soned  his  family  and  killed  himself,  his  successor  in  the 
mine  finding  a  million-dollar  deposit  only  three  feet 
from  where  the  suicide  ceased  his  labors.  Such  is  fail 
ure,  and  such  the  corresponding  influence  of  success. 

Entering  more  fully  into  the  analysis  of  the  per 
sonnel  and  character  of  Governor  Downey,  we  find 
a  man  five  feet  six  inches  in  height,  of  square  build, 
fair  complexion,  his  present  white  hair  being  once 
auburn,  hazel  eyes,  deep  and  keen,  manner  courteous, 
and  with  a  quick  and  concise  speech.  Possessed  nat 
urally  of  a  strong  intellect,  he  has  ever  thought  for 
himself,  and  has  been  guided  along  the  intricate  path 
way  of  his  life  by  honorable  aspirations  and  an 
enlightened  conviction. 

Some  have  a  genius  for  plunging  at  once  into  the 
heart  of  a  proposition,  while  others,  having  a  less 
firm  grip  upon  their  faculties,  arrives  at  results  step  by 
step  through  infinite  toil,  and  by  the  severest  mental 
or  physical  effort.  Governor  Downey's  maxim  through 
life  has  been  to  follow  his  first  honest  impulse ;  not 
that  it  was  deemed  infallible,  but  as  something  not  to 
be  dissuaded  from  without  sufficient  reason.  When 
differing  from  others,  as  he  was  often  called  upon  to 
do,  he  had  always  a  reason  satisfying  to  himself, 
though  not  always  feeling  obliged  to  express  it.  He 
has  ever  been  held  in  high  esteem  by  his  fellow-citi- 

C.  B.— II.    30 


466  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

zens  and  associates,  and  is  regarded  as  the  father  of 
latter-day  development. 

Hia  manner  is  dignified,  yet  genial  and  hearty,  and 
he  possesses  agreeable  conversational  gifts.  He  is 
unaffected  and  outspoken  in  his  opinions,  has  the  fac 
ulty  of  making  and  keeping  friends,  and  is  a  generally 
popular  man  among  the  large  number  of  those  who 
know  him.  He  has  great  reason  to  be  proud  of  his 
record,  which  may  stand  forth  for  all  time  an  honor 
able  one  in  all  respects.  As  governor  he  served  the 
state  faithfully,  honestly,  and  with  distinguished 
ability  ;  regardless  of  private  or  partisan  ends,  he 
looked  to  the  good  of  the  whole  people,  and  brought 
honor  upon  his  state  and  upon  himself.  In  private 
life  the  governor's  career  has  been  one  of  marked  suc 
cess,  and  his  character  irreproachable.  It  is  such 
men  as  Governor  John  G.  Downey  to  whom  Cali 
fornia  owes  the  tribute  of  everlasting  gratitude  for 
disinterested,  whole-souled  devotion  to  her  best  inter 
ests,  and  her  consequent  preeminence  among  her  sis 
ter  states.  As  a  private  citizen  his  life  has  been 
identified  with  the  important  interests  of  California, 
He  is  conspicuous  among  the  pioneers  and  builders  in 
a  new  land — men  who  lay  the  foundation  for  civili 
zation,  and  whose  spirit  and  handiwork  are  recognized 
in  the  superstructure  so  long  as  they  live.  But  it 
has  been  the  fortune  and  honor  of  Governor  Downey 
to  have  his  name  written  in  letters  of  gold  on  the 
pages  of  California's  record  as  the  conservator  of 
public  weal. 

His  charities  tave  been  constant  and  munificent, 
and  not  confined  to  sect  or  creed.  "  When  the  uni 
versity  of  southern  California  was  projected,"  he 
says,  "I  donated  to  them  property  in  Los  Angeles 
which  would  probably  bring  a  million  dollars  at  the 
present  time.  The  catholic  bishop  sent  for  me  and 
wanted  to  know  if  I  had  left  the  church.  I  told 
him  no,  but  that  the  work  these  men  were  doing  was 
just  as  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  God  as  the.  work  of 


JOHN  G.  DOWNEY.  467 

our  church,  and  that  I  had  already  done  a  great  deal 
for  the  catholics  here  and  at  San  Bernardino,  giving 
them  land  and  money." 

He  was  ever  interested  in  the  public  affairs  of  state 
and  nation.  When  a  boy  at  school,  by  association  he 
was  inclined  to  be  a  whig  in  sentiment,  but  after  he 
had  thoroughly  examined  the  course  of  the  demo 
cratic  party,  and  noted  how  it  fought  for  the  consti 
tution,  he  forthwith  took  his  stand  on  that  platform, 
where  he  has  remained  ever  since,  though  often  voting 
an  independent  ticket.  He  has  filled  many  offices  of 
honor  and  trust,  besides  that  of  governor,  among  them 
the  collectorship  of  the  port  of  San  Pedro,  council 
man,  and  member  of  the  assembly.  He  was  one  of 
the  organizers  of  the  Farmers  and  Mechanics  bank. 

When  he  took  his  seat  as  governor  he  was  but 
thirty-two  years  of  age.  It  had  been  arranged 
beforehand  that  Latham  should  retire,  and  that  he 
should  be  installed  governor.  He  was  president  of 
the  senate  and  lieutenant-governor  but  for  five  days. 
•Though  young  in  years  when  he  became  chief  exec 
utive  of  the  state,  his  administration  was  marked  by 
maturity  of  judgment.  A  leading  editor  of  the  day 
thus  writes :  "  Downey  won  the  gratitude  of  the 
friends  of  a  free  press  by  pocketing  a  bill  concerning 
libel,  intended  to  punish  for  their  outspoken,  honest 
editorials  certain  papers  at  the  bay  that  lashed  the 
treasury  thieves  into  continuous  fury.  The  gratitude 
of  the  bay  city  people  toward  the  Los  Angeles  apoth 
ecary,  who  played  the  part  of  governor  so  much  bet 
ter  than  any  of  his  predecessors  had  done,  was 
unbounded.  There  was  nothing  they  would  not  have 
given  him,  but  that  his  southern  proclivities  drew 
him  toward  the  close  of  his  term  upon  a  rock  which 
in  stormy  times  no  craft  could  graze  without  serious 
damage." 

Indeed,  he  but  expressed  the  opinion  of  the  people 
when  on  the  8th  of  January  1862,  in  yielding  the 
executive  chair  to  his  successor,  Leland  Stanford,  he 


468  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

inscribed  in  the  annals  of  the  state:  "  Every  depart 
ment  of  the  government  has  been  conducted  in  such 
a  manner  as  cannot  fail  to  give  confidence  and  satis 
faction  to  the  people.  The  appropriations  made  by 
the  legislature  have  been  faithfully  disbursed  for  the 
objects  for  which  they  were  intended,  and  in  strict 
conformity  with  the  requirements  of  law." 

Surrounding  this  legislature  was  a  strong  lobby, 
which  made  its  presence  felt  by  all ;  but  the  governor, 
who  had  entered  upon  his  duties  with  a  modest  depre 
ciation  of  his  abilities,  displayed  throughout  execu 
tive  powers  of  no  mean  order.  While  ever  vigilant, 
he  was  not  arbitrary;  with  broad  views  and  serene 
temper,  he  held  the  scales  of  justice  with  a  steady 
hand. 

Concerning  a  bill  introduced  by  Dr  I.  S.  Titus, 
proposing  to  allow  certain  counties  to  retain  the 
state's  portion  of  the  foreign  miners'  license  tax,  etc., 
in  his  veto  the  governor  said  :  "  We  have  been  for 
years  trying  to  arrive  at  a  cash  paying  basis,  and  now 
that  the  object  has  been  accomplished,  and  the  peo 
ple  gratified  with  the  results,  you  are  about  to  return 
by  lavish  and  unheard-of  appropriations  to  our  former 
state  of  bankruptcy.  I  consider  this  bill  unjust,  and 
wanting:  in  good  faith  to  the  other  counties  of  the 

O  'O 

state.  It  is  time  this  system  of  legislation  was 
arrested." 

On  the  29th  of  March,  1861,  the  governor  vetoed 
a  bill  by  Watt,  to  incorporate  the  town  of  Grass 
Valley,  which  provided  that  the  people,  by  vote,  at  a 
formal  election,  should  have  power  to  impose  on  the 
property  of  the  town  such  rate  of  taxation  as  they 
might  desire.  The  governor  declared  that  "  it  was 
never  the  intention  of  the  framers  of  the  constitution 
to  give  this  unlimited  power  of  taxation  to  the  peo 
ple;  that  power  is  wisely  vested  in  the  legislature, 
and  cannot  be  transferred  without  constitutional  restric 
tions.  I  regard  this  bill  as  clearly  unconstitutional." 

In  refusing  to  sign  a  city  toll-road  bill  the  governor, 


JOHN  G.  DOWNEY.  469 

referring  to  the  map,  said,  "It  will  be  seen  that  a 
toll-gate  is  attempted  to  be  placed  almost  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  city  regardless  of  any  expression  of  the 
will  of  the  property-owners  and  residents  along  the 
route,  or  of  first  obtaining  the  consent  of  the  board 
of  supervisors.  I  regard  every  toll-gate  on  roads 
or  streets  leading  to  or  from  San  Francisco  as 
objectionable,  not  only  to  the  residents  of  the  city, 
but  also  to  those  having  business  to  transact  in 
our  commercial  metropolis.  The  board  of  super 
visors  should  be  empowered  to  get  possession  of 
these  roads  and  maintain  them  as  public  highways. 
In  their  present  condition  they  can  only  be  looked 
upon  as  public  nuisances." 

But  the  act  of  all  others  which  crowned  his  politi 
cal  career  with  fadeless  glory  was  that  which  defeated 
the  vile  purposes  of  a  band  of  schemers  having  an 
eye  of  evil  intent  on  the  commercial  prosperity  of 
San  Francisco.  It  was  called  the  Parsons  Bulk 
head  bill,  introduced  in  the  legislature  in  1860  by 
Titus,  proposing  to  grant  to  the  San  Francisco  Dock 
and  Wharf  company,  composed  of  Levi  Parsons, 
John  Crane,  H.  S.  Gates,  J.  Mora  Moss,  Abel  Guy, 
John  Nightingale,  and  John  B.  Felton,  the  syndicate 
being  represented  in  San  Francisco  by  the  firm  of 
Pioche,  Bayerque  &  Co.,  the  right  to  build  upon  the 
water  line  of  1851  a  bulkhead  or  seawall,  with  piers, 
wharves,  and  docks,  with  the  right  to  collect  tolls, 
etc.,  and  also  appropriate  to  themselves  any  lands, 
wharves,  or  franchise  rights  along  the  line  belonging 
to  the  city,  and  take  possession  of  any  private  prop 
erty  on  making  compensation  therefor,  thus  securing 
for  fifty  years  control  of  the  water  front  of  the  city 
of  San  Francisco  from  Black  point  to  Mission  bay. 

In  stating  his  objections  the  governor  said :  "  After 
giving  this  bill  the  most  careful  consideration  in  all 
its  details,  I  am  led  to  the  irresistible  conclusion  that 
its  provisions  are  not  only  in  conflict  with  the  consti 
tution  and  the  principles  of  natural  justice,  but  that 


470  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

the  measure,  as  a  whole,  is  calculated  to  work  irrep 
arable  injury  to  our  commerce,  internal  and  external, 
of  which  San  Francisco  is,  and  must  ever  remain,  the 
metropolis.  .  .  .  There  is  no  public  object  contem 
plated  by  the  present  bill  but  what  has  been  already 
provided  for  by  the  various  enactments  referred  to ; 
and  the  franchise  which  it  proposes  to  confer  upon  the 
Dock  and  Wharf  company  has,  by  a  previous  grant, 
been  irrevocably  disposed  of.  The  right  to  construct 
the  front  streets  or  to  build  a  bulkhead,  with  the 
necessary  wharves,  piers,  and  docks,  with  the  right 
and  duty  to  provide  for  the  repair  and  regulation  of 
these  works,  including  the  right  to  collect  and  fix  the 
rates  of  wharfage,  tolls,  and  dockage,  has  heretofore 
been  granted  to  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco, 
though  not  in  the  same  words  adopted  in  this  bill, 
yet  in  terms  not  less  comprehensive  and  effectual. 
Assured  by  such  legislation,  the  city  has  heretofore 
constructed  wharves  for  the  accommodation  of  com 
merce,  under  various  contracts,  which,  in  several 
cases,  were  defectively  executed,  have  been  confirmed 
by  special  legislative  acts.  The  wharves  have  been 
leased  out  for  terms  of  years,  which,  in  most  cases, 
will  expire  in  1862.  The  rents  of  some  of  them  are 
placed  under  the  control  of  the  commissioners  of  the 
funded  debt  of  1851,  and  are  sacredly  pledged  for 
the  payment  of  the  city  indebtedness.  I  do  not 
intend  to  intimate  an  opinion  that  under  existing  leg 
islation  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco  is 
invested  with  the  exclusive  right  to  build  wharves 
and  collect  wharfage  except  outside  of  the  water 
front ;  nor  but  that  under  the  present,  or  any  consti 
tutional  legislation  on  the  subject,  the  entire  water 
front  of  San  Francisco  would  be  as  free  to  those 
engaged  in  trade  as  the  seashore,  or  any  public  high 
way  in  the  state,  subject  only  to  such  regulations  as 
the  city  or  state  in  the  exercise  of  the  necessary  pow 
ers  of  government  independent  of  any  right  of  prop 
erty  may  think  proper  to  impose,  for  the  benefit  of 


JOHN  G.  DOWNEY.  471 

le  or  the  maintenance  of  public  order.     It  would 
doubtless  be  the  true  policy  of  the  state  to  maintain 
that  freedom  to  the  fullest  extent  to  which  it  now 
exists.     In  the  adoption  and  maintenance  of  this  pol 
icy,  the  disposition  and  interest  of  San  Francisco,  as 
well  as  the  state  at  large,  would  be  in  perfect  har 
mony.     This  bill  then  attempts  to  divest  and  impair 
the  rights  of  property  growing   out  of  previous  acts 
of  the  legislature,  which  are  to  be   regarded  as  con- 
tracts.     The  bill  also  empowers  the  Dock  and  Wharf 
company  to  take   and   appropriate   private  property, 
not  for  any  such  public   use  as  contemplated  by  the 
constitutional  provisions  on  the  subject,  but  to  facili 
tate  a  private  enterprise,  and  augment  the  profits  of 
its   stockholders.      I    regard   the  bill,    therefore,   as 
plainly  repugnant  to  section  10,  article  1,  of  the  fed 
eral  constitution,  and  to  section    16,   article    1,  of  the 
constitution  of  this  state.     The  state,  on  the  ground 
of  the   highest  policy,  as   well  as  of  natural  justice, 
should  regard  its  faith  in  whatever  form  given,  and 
the  rights   of  private    property,   as  inviolable.     The 
habitual   disregard   of  the   one    or  the    other  would 
destroy  industry,  and  arrest  all  useful  progress.  Prop 
erty,  legitimately  acquired,  is  the  product  and  reward 
of  labor.     If  it  be  not  secure,  men  will  not  work  for 
it,   and  universal   indolence   and  crime  will  succeed. 
Besides  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  measure  under 
considaration,  I  deem  it  my  imperative  duty  to  with 
hold  the  executive  sanction  for  other  reasons  not  less 
cogent.     On  any  ordinary  grounds  of  state  policy  I 
should   defer  to  the  opinions  of    a  majority   of    the 
two    houses  of  the  legislature  ;  but  when  a  proposed 
measure  is  calculated,  as  I   believe  this  is,   to   bring 
upon  the  state  great  and  irreparable  injury,  I  conceive 
it  my  duty  to  assume  the  responsibility,   and   arrest 
it.     Monopolies  are  odious;  they  are  especially  repug 
nant  to   the  genius  of  our  government,   and  to  the 
habits  and  opinions  of  our  people.     They  are  to  be 
tolerated  only  in  cases  of  great  necessity,  a  condition 


472  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

which  does  not  exist  with  respect  to  the  objects  pro 
posed  by  this  bill.  The  value  of  the  franchise  which 
it  grants,  and  which  has  been  sought  with  great  avid 
ity  for  nearly  five  years,  has  been  estimated  at  several 
millions  of  dollars,  and  it  has  been  reasonably  calcu 
lated  that  the  net  receipts  of  the  existing  wharves  at 
the  expiration  of  the  present  leases,  say  in  1862,  will 
amount  to  half  a  million  of  dollars  annually.  All  this 
is  donated  to  the  Dock  and  Wharf  company.  With 
the  income  arising  from  the  profits  granted,  without 
any  additional  capital,  the  company  might  probably 
build  the  contemplated  works,  as  the  city  or  state 
might  do,  if  those  funds  were  retained.  In  the  latter 
case  the  work  would  be  public  property,  and  the 
income  would  go  into  the  public  treasury.  In  return 
for  these  large  and  perpetually  increasing  revenues, 
what  does  the  state  receive  ?  Five  per  cent  of  the 
gross  amount  realized  by  the  Dock  and  Wharf  com 
pany  to  be  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  state  school 
fund.  In  effect,  the  company  refunds,  for  school  pur 
poses,  a  very  small  portion  of  the  donation.  It  receives 
from  the  state  $100,  and  gives  back  $5  out  of  the 
amount  received.  It  would  afford  some  relief  to  those 
who  bear  the  burdens  of  the  government  to  get  back 
even  that  small  portion  of  what  the  state  parted  with 
without  consideration ;  but  this  five  per  cent  is  neces 
sarily  made  an  additional  tax  upon  commerce,  and  in 
case  the  state  or  city  should  repurchase,  or  the  works 
revert,  every  dollar  thus  received  into  the  school  fund 
would  have  to  be  repaid  to  the  Dock  and  Wharf  com 
pany  with  interest.  The  Dock  and  Wharf  company 
once  invested  with  the  franchise  and  revenues  granted 
by  this  act,  if  it  should  become  a  law,  would  in  a 
short  time,  by  means  of  its  vast  capital  and  exclusive 
privileges,  be  able  to  control,  to  a  great  extent,  the 
commerce,  as  well  as  the  legislation  and  policy  of  the 
city  and  state.  It  would,  by  degrees,  monopolize 
every  important  branch  of  trade.  It  might  use  its 
power  to  control  the  market,  producing  an  inflation 


JOHN  G.  DOWNEY.  473 

depression  as  its  interests  might  dictate.  Thou 
sands  of  laborers,  constantly  depending  upon  the 
company  or  its  policy  for  employment,  might  at  any 
time,  to  secure  its  purposes,  be  deprived  of  their  only 
means  of  subsistence.  The  power  and  influence  of 
this  company  would  also,  in  time,  procure  a  removal 
of  all  restrictions,  and  the  right  of  repurchase  or 
reversion  contained  in  this  bill  would  be  compromised 
and  surrendered.  The  franchise  would  then  be  per 
petual  in  terms,  as  under  this  bill  it  is  now  in  effect. 
No  greater  injury  could  be  inflicted  upon  the  state 
than  to  expose  her  commerce  to  the  domination  of 
such  an  establishment.  San  Francisco  herself  would 
suffer  less  by  it  than  the  producers  and  consumers 
of  other  parts  of  the  country,  who  would  be 
dependent  on  her  market.  The  burdens  imposed 
would  fall  chiefly  upon  them,  but  all  alike  have  a 
common  interest  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  free  trade." 

All  over  the  state  the  public  journals  rang  with 
the  praises  of  Governor  Downey.  One  says  :  "Cali 
fornia  has  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  man  now  filling 
the  executive  chair.  Through  all  the  conflict  of  pub 
lic  opinion,  through  the  heat  and  beyond  the  influence 
of  sectional  political  organizations,  through  the  spirit 
of  partisan  feeling,  and  against  the  moneyed  power 
and  pressure  at  the  capital  for  the  passage  of  fraudu 
lent  schemes  of  legislation,  he  has  stood  bold  and 
firm,  like  a  skillful  mariner  guiding  the  helm  of  the 
ship  of  state.  His  record  will  be  a  moving  power  in 
the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  a  monument  to  the 
man  who  has  on  every  occasion  rebuked  the  impor 
tunities  of  political  tricksters  and  self-constituted 
party  leaders,  and  who  dared  to  do  right  in  the  hon 
est  discharge  of  his  whole  duty." 

Another  remarks  on  his  message:  "It  is  a  clear, 
practical  document.  His  style  is  such  as  to  elicit  a 
desire  for  cool  discussion,  not  angry  debate."  And 
thus  a  public  body;  "Whereas  John  G.  Downey, 


474  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

governor  of  the  state  of  California,  by  his  firm  and 
fearless  conduct  officially  displayed  during  the  last 
session  of  the  legislature  of  the  state,  in  opposition  to 
the  acts  of  that  body  detrimental  to  the  rights  and 
interests  of  our  city,  has  merited  the  approbation  and 
gratitude  of  the  people  of  San  Francisco;  therefore 
resolved  that  we,  the  board  of  supervisors  of  the  city 
and  county  of  San  Francisco,  hereby  tender  our  sin 
cere  and  fervent  thanks  to  his  excellency,  and  that 
the  president  of  the  board  of  supervisors  be  requested 
to  transmit  to  him  a  copy  of  this  resolution." 

Privately  the  governor  remarked  upon  the  subject: 
"Levi  Parsons  came  to  see  me  about  the  Bulkhead 
bill,  and  I  gave  him  to  understand  at  once  that  he 
need  not  talk  to  me  about  it ;  and  I  put  him  down. 
'  It  takes  a  man  of  some  ability/  I  said  to  him  '  to 
distinguish  himself  in  the  senate,  but  any  man  with 
the  right  heart  in  the  right  place  can  make  a  good 
governor.'  And  I  further  told  him  that  I  thought  I 
was  the  right  man  in  the  right  place.  Said  Parsons, 
'  I  am  a  man  who  will  go  round  the  world  once  for  a 
friend,  and  twice  for  an  enemy.  Said  I,  '  as  my  time 
is  precious,  you  had  better  start  on  your  journey  for 
the  enemy,  for  I  propose  to  put  down  that  bill."' 

Turn,  finally,  to  the  pages  of  contemporaneous  his 
tory,  and  see  how  the  public  measures  of  Governor 
Downey  are  recorded  there.  "Latham,  having 
achieved  the  object  of  his  ambition,  resigned  the  reins 
of  state  government  to  John  G.  Downey,  lieutenant- 
governor,  a  man  without  political  history  or  expe 
rience,  but  not  destined  to  be  without  a  popularity, 
especially  in  San  Francisco,  quite  new  to  chief  execu 
tives  in  California.  The  legislature  shaped  its  labors 
mainly  with  the  view  of  securing  all  the  patronage 
possible  for  the  democratic  party,  that  it  might  go 
with  reasonable  expectations  into  the  presidential 
e]ection  of  the  coming  fall.  It  passed  bills  for  the 
inspection  of  beef  and  pork,  and  multiplied  licenses, 
not  so  much  for  revenue  purposes,  or  because  those 


JOHN  G.  DOWNEY.  475 


staples  needed  inspection,  as  because  favorites  and  men 
skilled  in  the  tactics  of  primary  conventions  wanted 
paying  places.  It  crowned  its  unwelcome  labors  with 
an  act  authorizing  substantially  the  joint  wharf  com 
panies  of  San  Francisco  to  build  a  seawall,  or  bulk 
head,  along  the  city  front,  and  to  take  toll  of  all  that 
passed  it  into  the  city  for  fifty  years  to  come ;  mean 
while  mocking  the  state  with  the  tender  of  the  re 
served  right  to  buy  the  work  on  completion  at  cost 
and  ten  per  cent  yearly  interest.  It  was  a  bare 
faced  imposition  of  a  heavy  tax  on  commerce  for  the 
benefit  of  speculators,  which  San  Francisco  resented 
with  profound  indignation. 

"Now  it  had  been  claimed  that  Latham  was 
pledged  against  the  scheme,  and  that,  knowing  he 
could  not  be  moved  to  favor  it,  he  was  sent  to  the 
senate  by  the  bulkheaders'  influence,  to  get  him  out 
of  the  way.  If  so  they  calculated  without  their  true 
host.  Governor  Downey  lacked  experience,  but  not 
resolution,  and  when  the  enrolled  bill  went  to  him  for 
the  executive  sanction  he  vetoed  it. 

"  The  bulkheaders  were  boiling  with  wrath ;  San 
Francisco  went  into  ecstacies.  The  citizens  demanded 
a  visit  from  the  little  governor  of  Irish  birth  and 
iron  backbone,  and  when  he  reluctantly  consented, 
they  met  him  at  the  Sacramento  boat  with  a  torch 
light  procession  that  shamed  every  precedent  in  that 
line.  They  escorted  him  to  his  temporary  residence 
with  music,  and  banners,  and  cheers,  through  streets 
illuminated  with  bonfires,  costly  pyrotechnics,  and 
transparencies,  exhibiting  mottoes  of  welcome,  and 
with  rockets,  roman  candles,  and  triumphal  arches 
over  the  route," 


CHAPTER  VI. 

LIFE  OF  GEORGE  CLEMENT  PERKINS. 

ANCESTRY,  PARENTAGE,  AND  EDUCATION — AT  SEA— INTERVIEW  WITH  KING 
OSCAR  —  ARRIVAL  IN  CALIFORNIA  —  STORE-KEEPING  AT  OROVILLE  — 
GOODALL,  NELSON,  AND  PERKINS — PACIFIC  COAST  RAILWAY— OTHER 
ENTERPRISES—  POLITICAL  CAREER — GOVERNOR  OF  CALIFORNIA — CHARI 
TABLE  AND  FRATERNAL  SOCIETIES — WIFE  AND  CHILDREN — APPEARANCE 
AND  CHARACTER. 

THAT  one  man  in  his  life  plays  many  parts  is  a  say 
ing  that  applies  more  generally  to  the  citizens  of 
California  than  to  any  community  in  the  world. 
There  are  thousands  of  those  citizens  who  before 
reaching  middle  life  have  engaged  in  a  dozen  or  per 
haps  a  score  of  occupations.  Beginning  frequently 
with  mining,  we  find  them  equally  at  home  as  mer 
chants,  farmers,  doctors,  lawyers,  professors,  or 
preachers,  ending  their  career  not  infrequently  as 
members  of  the  national  legislature,  or  holding  in 
their  adopted  state  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility. 

As  a  type  of  our  California-made  men,  of  those 
whose  energy  and  long-continued  toil,  whose  fore 
sight  and  judgment,  whose  strict  adherence  to  well- 
defined  and  comprehensive  plans  have  fashioned  their 
own  and  their  country's  fortunes,  we  may  point  with 
pride  to  George  Clement  Perkins,  who  began  life  as 
a  sailor  boy,  became  successively  a  miner,  a  clerk,  a 
store-keeper,  a  farmer,  a  banker,  a  shipowner,  a  rail 
road  president,  and  governor  of  the  state,  and  with 
numberless  enterprises  tending  to  the  common  good 
he  has  been  for  years  connected.  By  such  men 
the  homes  of  California  have  been  established  ;  by 

(476) 


GEORGE  CLEMENT  PERKINS.  477 

them  the  land  has  been  enriched  and  beautified, 
its  resources  developed,  its  commerce  and  agricul 
ture  expanded,  until  to-day  a  leading  rank  has  been 
attained  among  commercial  and  agricultural  states. 

It  was  in  October  1855  when  Mr  Perkins  first 
landed  in  San  Francisco.  He  was  at  that  time  a 
stout-hearted  and  self-reliant  youth,  about  sixteen 
years  of  age,  of  sanguine  and  cheerful  temperament, 
not  easily  discouraged,  and  with  an  immense  capacity 
for  work.  Investing  his  few  remaining  dollars  in  a 
shotgun,  a  revolver,  and  a  pick  and  shovel — the  reg 
ulation  outfit  of  those  days — he  went  to  work  on  the 
wharf,  and  earned  his  passage  to  Sacramento,  en 
route  for  the  mines. 

Born  on  the  23d  of  August  1839,  in  the  seaport 
of  Kennebunkport,  Maine,  Mr  Perkins'  ancestry  is 
traced  back  to  the  days  when  Sir  Ferdinand  Georges 
received  from  James  I  a  patent  to  the  territory  lying 
batween  the  fortieth  and  forty-eighth  parallels,  and 
was  appointed  governor  general  of  New  England.  Of 
English  descent,  his  forefathers  were  among  the  earli 
est  settlers  in  Maine.  They  were  earnest,  laborious, 
and  strong-headed  people,  of  deep  religious  convic 
tions.  Some  of  them  entered  the  professions ;  some 
were  farmers  or  mechanics  ;  and  not  a  few  were  mar 
iners.  All  were  men  of  powerful  physique,  capable 
of  great  endurance,  and  possessed  of  remarkable  vital 
ity,  without  an  exception  transcending  the  scriptural 
limit  of  life  by  a  half-score  of  years.  His  father, 
Clement  Perkins,  was  engaged  as  sailor  and  officer  on 
vessels  trading  with  the  West  Indies,  and  was  also  the 

O 

owner  of  several  small  fields  of  land  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  his  homestead,  though  such  was  the  poverty 
of  the  soil  that  only  by  the  use  of  seaweed  and  other 
fertilizers  could  it  be  made  to  yield  a  scanty  crop. 
His  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Lucinda  Fair- 
field,  was  a  relative  of  Governor  Fairfield,  and  also 
of  Governor  King,  one  of  the  earliest  governors  of 
Maine,  after  its  segregation  from  Massachusetts. 


478  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

His  two  brothers  are  respected  citizens  of  Califor 
nia  at  this  date,  one  of  whom  served  with  gal- 

O 

lantry  in  the  civil  war  under  Admiral  Farragut.  Of 
his  two  sisters,  the  younger,  Caroline  Amelia,  still 
lives  at  the  old  homestead  in  Kennebunkport,  and 
the  elder,  Ernestine,  the  wife  of  Henry  Maling,  of 
the  well-known  firm  of  Byron  Greenough  &  Co.,  of 
Portland,  Me. 

In  early  boyhood  his  training  was  very  strict. 
Before  and  after  schools  he  was  required  to  work  on 
the  farm,  while  the  sabbath,  with  its  treadmill  of  re 
ligious  exactions,  was  the  hardest  day  of  the  week. 
His  tuition,  three  months  out  of  the  twelve,  was  of  an 
elementary  kind.  The  residue  of  the  year  he  worked 
on  the  farm,  where,  from  principle,  the  most  rigid 
economy  was  practiced  by  all.  As  a  schoolboy,  he 
cared  more  for  sport  than  for  books,  being  only  an 
average  scholar,  and  having  no  marked  tastes  for 
special  studies.  He  had,  from  an  early  age,  a  passion 
for  the  sea,  and  as  he  grew  his  thirst  for  a  knowl 
edge  of  mathematics,  geography,  and  astronomy  be 
came  so  great  that  in  these  branches  he  excelled. 
To  become  the  captain  of  a  vessel  was  his  ambition. 

In  his  twelfth  year  he  applied  to  the  captain  of  the 
ship  Golden  Eagle,  then  about  to  sail  for  New  Orleans, 
for  the  position  of  cabin-boy,  but  was  refused,  on  account 
of  his  youth.  Thereupon,  he  secreted  himself  in  the 
hold,  and  after  leaving  port  was  accepted,  and  signed 
articles  as  one  of  the  crew.  The  next  four  years  of 
his  life  he  passed  at  sea,  making  several  voyages  to 
Europe,  and  encountering  perils  and  enduring  hard 
ships  enough  to  satisfy  even  his  craving  for  adventure. 

On  one  occasion,  while  voyaging  from  St  Johns  to 
Dublin  in  the  ship  Lizzie  Thompson,  a  mutiny  broke  out, 
the  ship  leaking  dangerously.  The  commander,  who 
had  observed  the  young  sailor's  boldness  and  resolu 
tion,  sought  his  advice.  "Go  for  them  with  a  belay 
ing  pin,"  was  George's  answer.  The  mutineers  were 
quickly  subdued ;  fatal  bloodshed  was  avoided,  and  the 


GEORGE  C.  PERKINS.  479 

ship  returned  to  port  for  repairs.  On  board  the  ship  at 
St  John's  there  were  four  young  and  untried  appren 
tices,  who,  thoroughly  demoralized  by  the  recent 
mutiny  and  disaster  to  the  ship,  begged  him  to  help 
them  escape.  Acting  on  the  spur  of  a  generous  and 
sympathetic  impulse,  he  got  them  into  a  boat,  and, 
drifting  down  the  tide,  conveyed  them  safely  on  board 
an  outgoing  ship.  Returning  a  few  hours  later,  the 
captain  inquired  angrily  what  he  had  done  with  them- 
He  frankly  told  him,  adding :  "I  know  I  am  in  the 
wrong,  but  they  haven't  got  the  making  of  sailors  in 
them,  and  I  thought  they'd  better  go  home."  Thirty- 
five  years  later  one  of  these  runaways,  after  serving 
in  the  war,  and  making  his  fortune  in  Colorado,  called 
at  the  office  of  Governor  Perkins  to  express  his  grat 
itude  for  the  deliverance. 

At  Christiana,  on  one  of  his  voyages,  Perkins  made 
up  his  mind  that  he  would  see  the  celebrated  Swedish 
King  Oscar.  In  company  with  a  sailor  lad  by  the 
name  of  Jack  Branscomb,  approaching  the  royal  gar 
dens,  he  was  confronted  with  an  impassable  moat. 
But  the  boy  had  made  up  his  mind,  and  would  not 
be  balked  of  his  purpose.  After  careful  search  he 
discovered  under  the  moat  a  narrow  tunnel,  the 
mouth  of  which  was  choked  with  rubbish.  Into  this 
he  plunged,  Branscomb  following  at  his  heels,  and 
made  his  way  to  the  opposite  entrance.  On  emerg 
ing  they  were  instantly  surrounded  by  guards,  who 
could  not  understand  their  explanation,  yet  attempted 
to  conceal  them;  but  the  monarch  with  his  retinue 
wTas  approaching.  One  of  the  party  stepped  forward 
and  asked  their  business.  Young  Perkins,  acting  as 
spokesman,  for  his  comrade  was  shaking  as  with  an  ague, 
boldly  made  answer  that  he  had  come  to  see  his 
majesty,  King  Oscar  I  ;  they  were  from  Boston,  and 
when  they  returned  home  would  be  proud  to  tell  their 
friends  that  they  had  been  face  to  face  with  the  king." 
"  Well,"  said  the  other,  in  perfect  English,  "You  have 
seen  him  ;  I  am  the  king,"  At  the  same  time  he 


480  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

handed  each  of  them  several  coins  as  souvenirs  of 
their  visit.  In  1884,  thirty  years  after  this  adven 
ture,  Branscomb  turned  up  on  the  California  coast, 
under  the  following  circumstances:  One  day,  while  on 
board  a  pilot  boat,  bound  for  Monterey,  in  company 
with  Commodore  Allen  and  a  party  of  friends,  Gov. 
Perkins  observed  that  one  of  the  sailors  was  eying  him 
intently.  "  Who  is  the  governor ;  what  state  does 
he  come  from  ?"  inquired  this  sailor  from  another  of 
the  crew.  "  From  Maine,"  was  the  reply.  "  I  thought 
I  knew  him.  You  ask  him  if  he  ever  met  with  a 
boy  by  the  name  of  Jack  Branscomb,  who  served  on 
board  the  ship  Luna."  And  Jack  Branscomb  it 
was — the  same  Jack,  who  thirty  years  before  had 
trembled  in  the  presence  of  royalty.  It  is  almost 
unnecessary  to  state  that  Mr  Perkins  at  once  came 
forward  and  greeted  him  as  an  old  comrade,  and  soon 
provided  a  place  for  him  as  boatswain  on  one  of  his 
ships. 

During  the  voyage  from  St  John's  to  Dublin  and 
Liverpool,  it  happened  that  among  his  comrades  was 
an  old  sailor,  recently  returned  from  California,  and 
mainly  through  his  persuasion,  he  determined  to  seek 
his  fortune  there.  A  few  davs  after  his  arrival  in  San 

*/ 

Francisco  he  took  the  steamer  for  Sacramento,  whence 
he  walked  to  Butte  county,  carrying  on  his  back  his 
tools,  blankets,  and  gun,  and,  for  provisions,  some 
crackers  and  bacon.  In  Butte,  Plumas,  Sierra, 
Tehama,  and  Lassen  counties  he  worked  for  several 
months  at  placer  mining,  sleeping  in  cloth  tents,  under 
trees  or  ledges  of  rock,  and  living  as  best  he  could. 

The  proverbial  sailor's  luck  deserted  him,  and  in  a 
temporary  fit  of  despondency,  he  concluded  to  go  to 
San  Francisco  and  ship  for  Frazer  river,  the  excite 
ment  regarding  this  point  being  at  its  height.  After 
reaching  the  city,  he  determined  that  California  con 
tained  good  things  enough  to  satisfy  any  man  that 
had  the  nerve  to  wrestle  for  them,  and  that  he  would 
return  to  the  point  where  he  had  first  failed  and  make 


GEORGE  C.  PERKINS.  481 

another  trial.  Being  without  means,  he  worked  his 
passage  on  a  steamboat  to  Sacramento  and  again 
walked  from  there  to  Oroville,  or  Ophir,  as  it  was  then 
termed.  On  his  return  he  secured  employment,  driv 
ing  a  mule  team,  at  which  he  was  not  expert,  as  the 
reader  will  imagine,  but  the  will  that  caused  him  to 
retrace  his  steps,  soon  gave  him  the  mastery  over  the 
avocation. 

In  the  following  year  he  obtained  employment,  in 
a  store  at  Oroville,  as  porter.  Now  he  considered 
himself  fairlv  on  the  road  to  fortune.  Building  a 

**  O 

small  cabin,  doing  his  own  cooking,  and  practising  the 
most  rigid  economy,  he  lived  on  one  sixth  of  his 
income,  and  in  a  little  more  than  two  years,  accumu 
lated  $800.  With  this  sum,  and  $1,200  obtained  on 
his  note,  he  purchased  a  ferry  at  Long's  bar,  which 
he  improved  and  shortly  after  sold  at  a  profit  of 
$1,000.  Placing  his  money  at  interest  he  returned  to 
the  store  at  Oroville,  now  at  a  salary  of  $80  per 
.month.  Soon  afterward  he  was  promoted  to  a  clerk 
ship  and  in  less  than  three  years,  business  being  then 
at  a  low  ebb,  became  the  owner  of  the  establishment. 
For  the  first  month  .his  sales  amounted  to  $4,000  ;  at 
the  end  of  the  first  year  they  had  increased  to  $15,- 
000,  and  on  the  second  to  $25,000  a  month.  He 
then  erected  a  flour  mill,  and  through  his  strict  atten 
tion  to  business,  his  liberality  and  fair  dealing,  grad 
ually  enlarged  his  operations,  until  his  trade  in  pro 
duce,  provisions,  groceries,  and  general  merchandise 
amounted  to  $500,000  a  year.  All  this  he  had  accom 
plished  when  little  more  than  twenty  years  of  age. 

Until  1875,  when  he  transferred  to  his  brother  the 
charge  of  his  business,  Mr  Perkins  made  his  head 
quarters  at  Oroville.  Meanwhile,  to  his  other  inter 
ests  were  added  sheep  and  cattle  ranches.  In  mining 
and  the  1  amber  business  he  was  also  largely  engaged  ; 
at  Chico,  in  connection  with  N.  D.  Hideout  and  oth 
ers,  he  established  the  bank  of  Butte  county,  of  which 
he  became  a  director 

C.  B.— II.    31 


482  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

During  the  flood  of  1862  the  fertile  valleys  between 
Oroville  and  Marysville,  the  latter  being  the  base  of 
supplies  for  the  former,  were  overflowed  and  com 
munication  cut  off.  Provisions  could  not  be  had 
except  by  descending  the  Feather  river,  the  only  hope 
of  relief.  Perkins,  having  built  a  skiff,  and  accom 
panied  by  a  single  volunteer,  who  left  him  after  two 
or  three  dangerous  riffles  had  been  passed,  dropped 
down  the  stream  to  Marysville,  noting  carefully  the 
dangerous  obstructions  in  its  channel.  There  he 
chartered  a  steamer,  and,  loading  her  with  provisions, 
returned  within  a  few  days  to  the  relief  of  the  needy 
people.  This  was  the  largest  steamboat  that  ever 
ascended  the  river  as  far  as  Oroville,  only  one  small 
stern-wheeled  steamer  having  made  the  trip  before. 

In  1872  Mr  Perkins  accepted  a  partnership  in  the 
firm  of  Goodall  &  Nelson,  the  firm  being  known  as 
Goodall,  Nelson  &  Perkins ;  they  then  incorporated 
as  the  Goodall,  Nelson  &  Perkins  Steamship  com 
pany,  and  later  incorporated  the  Pacific  Coast  Steam 
ship  company.  At  the  date  mentioned  they  had  but 
two  or  three  small  steamboats  in  operation,  running 
as  far  south  as  Monterey,  and  northward  only  to 
Tomales  bay.  To  these,  others  were  added  from  time 
to  time,  until  in  1881  they  had  a  fleet  of  twenty-one 
steamers,  plying  from  Sitka  on  the  north,  to  Mexico 
on  the  south,  and  to  some  thirty  intermediate  ports, 
several  of  them  being  vessels  of  from  1,200  to  1,500 
tons.  In  that  year  the  company  disposed  of  its  inter 
ests  to  Henry  Villard,  and  his  associates,  who  had 
long  competed  with  them  for  the  carrying  trade  of 
the  coast,  receiving,  however,  a  contract  to  manage 
the  business  for  a  term  of  seven  years,  which  was 
later  extended  to  twelve  years.  At  the  same  time 
they  secured  the  agency  of  the  Oregon  Railway  and 
Navigation  company,  having  then,  also,  the  control  of 
the  Pacific  Coast  Steamship  company.  The  Pacific 
Steam  Whaling  company,  of  which  he  is  vice-presi 
dent,  and  the  Arctic  Oil  Works,  of  which  he  is  presi- 


GEORGE  C.  PERKINS.  483 

dent,  were  also  organized  by  the  members  of  this 
firm  and  their  associates,  and  by  them  were  built  the 
first  steam  whalers  constructed  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
These  vessels  were  sheathed  with  imported  iron- 
wood,  which  resists  better  than  steel  the  shock  of 
the  ice-floes.  Under  the  head  of  Routes  and  Trans 
portation  I  treat  at  length  the  operations  of  Goodall, 
Perkins  &  Co.,  one  of  the  important  subjects  in  that 
department.  Mr  Perkins  is  in  his  element  in  this 
great  business  and  has  been  a  large  factor  in  building 
it  up. 

Among  other  enterprises  with  which  he  is  con 
nected  may  be  mentioned  the  railroad  from  Cuffey's 
cove  to  the  redwood  timber  lands  of  Mendocino 
county,  in  which  he  is  largely  interested.  He  is  also 
president  of  the  Pacific  Coast  railway — a  railroad 
running  through  Santa  Barbara  and  San  Luis  Obispo 
counties  and  terminating  at  Port  Harford.  He  is  a 
director  and  large  owner  in  the  corporation  of  Starr  & 
Co.,  who  own  and  operate  the  largest  flour  mills  and 
warehouses  on  the  Pacific  coast.  He  is  also  a  director 
and  owner  in  the  bank  of  Butte  county  in  Chico,  and 
the  California  State  bank,  located  at  Sacramento,  and 
a  director  in  the  First  National  bank  of  San  Fran 
cisco,  one  of  the  strongest  financial  institutions  on  the 
Pacific  coast.  He  is  also  vice-president  of  the  West 
Coast  Land  company,  and,  in  conjunction  with  his 
partners,  the  owner  of  three- tenths  of  its  estates  in 
San  Luis  Obispo  county. 

He  has  been  largely  interested  in  quartz  and  gravel 
mines  in  most  every  mining  county  in  the  state,  and 
elsewhere  on  the  coast,  and  especially  in  iron  mines 
near  Puget  sound. 

In  1860  Mr  Perkins  cast  his  first  vote  for  Abraham 
Lincoln,  and  has  always  been  amost  ardent  republi 
can,  though  not  a  partisan  in  the  extreme  sense  of  the 
term.  He  was  an  abolitionist  and  uncompromising 
in  his  loyalty  to  the  government.  His  motto  was, 
"  The  Union  first,  last,  and  all  the  time,"  but  he  did 


484  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

not  believe  the  negro,  until  prepared  by  education, 
should  be  given  the  ballot,  which  he  looks  upon  as 
a  sacred  right  that  should  be  placed  in  the  possession 
of  the  intelligent  class  only. 

Soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion  the  citi 
zens  of  Oroville  were  about  to  celebrate  the  Fourth 
of  July  with  more  than  usuul  patriotic  spirit,  and 
from  the  flagstaff  in  the  Court  House  Plaza  the  stars 
and  stripes  were  to  be  unfurled.  During  the  preced 
ing  night  the  halyards  had  been  cut,  presumably  by 
some  evil-minded  secessionist.  For  a  moment  it 
seemed  that  the  damage  could  not  be  repaired.  A 
crowd  had  assembled,  and  were  angrily  discussing  the 
outrage,  when  a  young  man  stepped  forward,  and 
tying  the  halyards  around  his  waist,  climbed  to  the 
truck  and  rove  them  with  his  own  hands.  In  an 
instant  the  nation's  standard  was  floating  in  the 
breeze.  The  lad's  name  was  Perkins. 

In  1869  he  was  elected  on  the  republican  ticket  to 
the  state  senate,  for  the  senatorial  district  of  Butte 
county,  over  George  W.  Colby,  an  able  democrat, 
whose  party  was  largely  in  the  majority.  And  in 
further  recognition  of  his  usefulness  and  sterling  qual 
ities  he  was  chosen,  in  1873,  to  fill  the  unexpired 
term  of  Senator  Boucher,  deceased,  for  the  senatorial 
district  comprising  Butte,  Plumas  and  Lassen.  He 
had  made  himself  popular  in  the  community  by  his 
public  spirit,  enterprise,  and  generosity.  He  seldom 
refused  credit  to  his  patrons,  and  never  for  provisions 
or  necessaries ;  and  very  rarely  did  those  whom  he 
trusted  take  advantage  of  his  liberality,  for  to  impose 
on  the  "captain,"  as  he  was  termed  after  his  exploit 
during  the  flood  of  1862,  was  considered  the  essence 
of  meanness.  In  the  senate  Mr  Perkins  was  known 
for  his  practical  ability,  industry,  business-like  meth 
ods,  independent  thinking,  liberal  ideas  and  a  con 
scientious  ambition  to  be  the  actual  servant  of  the 
people.  As  a  member  of  the  finance  committee  he 
presented  a  minority  report,  signed  only  by  himself, 


GEORGE  C.  PERKINS.  425 

favoring  the  passage  of  a  bill  framed  to  support  the 
state  university,  which  was  afterward  adopted  by  the 
senate,  and  an  appropriation  was  made  for  the  first  time 
granting  state  aid  to  the  University  of  California ;  for 
he  believed  the  opportunity  to  acquire  a  higher  educa 
tion  to  be  one  of  the  greatest  blessings  within  the  gift 
of  the  state.  On  the  committee  on  claims,  of  which 
he  was  appointed  chairman  by  the  democratic  lieu 
tenant  governor,  Holden,  this  being  the  only  appoint 
ment  of  a  republican  to  a  committee  chairmanship,  on 
public  lands,  and  on  commerce  and  navigation  he  ren 
dered  important  services,  among  which  may  be  men 
tioned  the  bills,  of  which  he  was  the  author  and 
brought  forward  and  labored  to  have  passed,  relative 
to  school  and  swamp  lands;  one  granting  aid  to  agri 
cultural  societies,  and  another  conferring  upon  juries 
the  power  to  determine  whether  the  sentence  for 
murder  should  be  death  or  imprisonment  for  life, 
thereby  saving  the  community  from  many  a  criminal 
whom  a  sympathetic  jury  could  seldom  get  sufficient 
evidence  to  convict  but  for  this  alternative.  He  also 
was  very  successful  in  passing  many  local  bills  that 
immediately  affected  the  interests  of  the  counties  he 
represented  and  were  demanded  by  his  constituents. 
To  him  is  also  due  in  part  the  rejection  of  senate 
bill,  No.  243;  an  act  to  empower  the  counties  of  Mer 
ced,  Stanislaus,  Fresno,  Tulare,  and  Kern  to  aid  in 
the  construction  of  a  railroad  in  said  counties,  by 
which  it  was  proposed  to  give  the  San  Joaquin  Rail 
road  company,  really  the  Central  Pacific  company, 
every  alternate  section  of  land  through  which  it  was 
to  be  built.  This  measure,  which  would  have  deprived 
the  state  of  a  valuable  portion  of  its  demain,  passed 
both  branches  of  the  legislature  in  the  session  of 
1869-70.  Governor  Haight  vetoed  the  bill,  and 
Mr  Perkins  was  the  only  republican  senator  who,  con 
sidering  the  measure  purely  on  its  merits,  felt  confident 
as  a  business  proposition  the  road  would  pay  to  build 
without  state  aid,  he  therefore  believed  it  his  duty  to 


486  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

put  aside  all  partisanship  and  voted  to  sustain  the  veto 
of  the  democratic  executive. 

In  1879  affairs  were  sadly  out  of  joint  in  California. 
The  epoch  was  perhaps  the  most  serious  in  the  his 
tory  of  the  state.  The  new  constitution  had  been 
adopted,  and  on  the  1st  of  January  1880  became  the 
organic  law.  Many  of  its  provisions — especially  those 
aimed  against  capital — were  regarded  by  the  conser 
vative  class  as  fraught  with  mischief.  It  hampered 
legislation ;  introducd  a  new  and  untried  system  of 
judiciary;  made  radical  innovations  in  the  revenue 
system  ;  favored  non-resident  property  holders ;  and 
declared  vacant  every  office  in  the  state,  without  jus 
tice  or  discrimination.  It  legislated  too  much ;  it  was 
lacking  in  clearness  and  precision;  all  the  benefits 
that  it  proposed  to  confer  could  be  accomplished  bet 
ter  by  legislation. 

In  the  fall  of  this  year  Mr  Perkins  received  the 
republican  nomination  for  governor.  Opposed  to  him 
were  Dr  Hugh  Glenn,  the  democratic  nominee,  and 
Mr  White,  the  nominee  of  the  workingmen's  party. 
The  democratic  nominee  was  put  forward  as  a  man  of 
the  people  ;  as  one  free  from  all  sympathy  or  connec 
tion  with  monopoly,  selected  as  the  candidate  for  the 
new  constitution  party,  and  supported  in  his  candi 
dacy,  with  all  its  energy  and  tact,  by  the  San  Fran 
cisco  Chronicle,  a  republican  journal  of  great  influence, 
and  the  entire  democratic  press.  Mr  Perkins  had  been 
outspoken  and  uncompromising  in  his  opposition  to 
that  instrument,  while  among  the  unthinking  multi 
tude  his  reputed  wealth  and  connection  with  the 
steamship  company  and  other  large  enterprises  made 
it  easy  for  his  artful  opponents  to  decry  him  as  a 
monopolist  and  enemy  of  the  people. 

The  odds  against  him  were  great,  and  he  knew  that 
if  the  election  were  to  take  place  at  once  he  would  be 
defeated.  The  campaign  was  short — only  sixty  days. 
The  emergency  called  forth  the  supreme  effort  of  his 
life.  Yet  he  preferred  to  lose  the  fight  rather  than 


GEORGE  C.  PERKINS.  487 

strengthen  himself  by  entering  into  any  combinations, 
and  he  distinctly  refused  to  make  any  promises  of  pre 
ferment,  express  or  implied,  that  were  conditional  on 
his  election.  In  the  short  time  allotted  he  canvassed 
the  state  from  San  Diego  to  Siskiyou,  often  speaking 
two  or  three  times  a  day  in  cities,  towns,  and  villages, 
or  at  wayside  houses.  He  was  frequently  greeted 
with  ovations,  though  encountering  everywhere  a 
determined  opposition  from  those  who  favored  the  new 
constitution,  which,  however,  now  that  it  had  become 
the  law  of  the  land  he  declared  should  be  recognized 
and  upheld  by  all  as  such;  and  he  pledged  his  honor 
that  if  he  were  elected  he  would  carry  out  its  provi 
sions  to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

By  those  who  listened  to  Mr  Perkins'  speeches 
during  this  canvass  it  is  related  that  he  displayed  a 
familiarity  with  the  condition  and  wants  of  all  classes 
of  the  people  such  as  no  man  could  possess  whose  life 
had  not  been  interwoven  with  theirs. 

One  of  themselves,  and  having  risen  to  wealth  and 
distinction  among  them,  he  was  thoroughly  at  home 
on  all  topics  in  which  they  were  interested.  With 
quickness  of  perception  and  soundness  of  judgment  he 
combined  a  thorough  knowledge  of  character  gained 
by  contact  and  competition  with  his  fellows.  Though 
making  no  display  of  rhetoric,  yet  his  views  were 
expressed  in  clear,  forcible  language,  spiced  with  a  vein 
of  good -humor,  which  softens  animosity  and  inspires 
trust.  His  manner  was  always  unequivocal  and 
frank,  and  he  impressed  all  who  heard  him  with  his 
integrity  of  purpose.  Wherever  he  spoke  new  friends 
sprang  up  about  him,  and  the  old  ones  already  know 
ing  the  man  personally,  or  being  familiar  with  his  rep 
utation,  took  off  their  coats  and  worked  for  him.  His 
election  to  the  governorship  by  a  plurality  of  more 
than  20.000  over  each  of  his  opponents  shows  a  bril 
liant  triumph,  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  California 
politics.  The  result  was  a  singular  reversal  of  the 
vote  on  the  new  constitution,  presenting  the  anomaly 


488  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

of  electing  a  man  to  the  chief  magistracy  of  the  state 
who  would  be  called  upon  to  execute  the  provisions 
of  a  political  chart  to  which  his  convictions  and  prin 
ciples  were  avowedly  opposed  ;  a  capitalist,  and  at  the 
head  of  a  powerful  corporation,  chosen  by  the  very 
people  whose  outcry  was  against  capital  and  corpora 
tions.  This  phenomenon  is  not  explained  by  any  one 
cause  alone,  but  the  outcome  was  mainly  due  to  the 
appreciation  of  Mr  Perkins'  character  and  worth.  The 
compliment  paid  him  by  the  people  was  magnificent, 
and  without  precedent.  He  proved  himself  worthy 
of  it,  however,  for  even  his  political  adversaries 
acknowledge  that  he  fulfilled  his  pledge  regarding  the 
new  constitution  faithfully. 

Of  the  several  wholesome  measures  inaugurated 
during  his  administration,  and  of  the  valuable  recom 
mendations  contained  in  his  inaugural  address  and 
messages,  it  is  impossible  here  to  make  more  than  a 
passing  mention.  Not  least  among  them  was  the  plan 
proposed  by  him  for  utilizing  the  labor  of  convicts  at 
the  state  prison,  where,  under  the  provisions  of  the 
new  constitution,  no  further  contracts  for  such  labor 
could  be  made  after  the  first  of  January  1882.  For 
the  movement  of  the  crops  there  were  needed  annu 
ally  from  25,000,000  to  30,000,000  grain  bags,  for  the 
purchase  of  which,  in  Calcutta  and  elsewhere,  more 
than  $2,000,000  a  year  was  sent  out  of  the  country. 
To  prevent  this  drain  upon  our  resources,  and  at  the 
same  time  lessen  the  burden  of  taxation  by  reducing 
the  expenses  of  the  prison,  and  also  to  obviate  the 
competition  of  convict  with  free  labor,  was  accom 
plished  by  the  introduction  of  a  jute  factory  at  the 
penitentiary.  When  he  entered  upon  his  duties  he 
was  confronted  with  deficiency  bills  amounting  to 
$218,000.  These  were  shortly  paid  off,  and  at  the 
close  of  his  administration  the  state  had  but  $600,000 
of  outstanding  bonds  in  private  hands  (the  state  hold 
ing  balance  in  treasury  for  school  purposes),  and  in 
the  treasury  $500,000  to  redeem  them,  Many  public 


GEORGE  C.  PERKINS.  489 

buildings  were  erected ;  among  them  the  normal 
schools  at  San  Jose  and  Los  Angeles,  and  additions 
made  to  the  state  university,  the  insane  asylum  at 
Stockton,  and  the  institution  for  the  care  of  the  deaf 
and  dumb,  and  the  blind,  and  the  state  prisons  at 
San  Quentin  and  Folsom. 

His  appointments  were  in  the  spirit  of  civil  service 
reform,  with  the  happy  result  that  no  one  of  his 
appointees  betrayed  his  trust.  The  pardoning  nower 
he  exercised  freely  and  yet  with  care. 

A  few  weeks  before  the  conclusion  of  his  term  a 
banquet  was  given  to  Governor  Perkins  in  Sacra- 
ramento,  by  the  leading  citizens  of  California,  regard 
less  of  party,  in  token  of  "  their  appreciation  of  ser 
vices  to  the  state  and  people."  Though  not  a  formal 
gathering,  and  intended  rather  as  a  compliment  to  the 
man  than  a  tribute  to  the  official,  the  splendor  of  its 
appointments  and  the  sincere  expressions  of  esteem 
and  orood-will,  from  men  of  all  political  creeds,  gave 
to  this  entertainment  more  than  a  passing  significance. 
By  Hon.  N.  Greene  Curtis,  who,  though  a  strong 
democrat,  was  chosen  to  preside  on  this  occasion,  a 
cordial  welcome  was  extended  to  the  governor,  to 
whom  he  afterward  presented,  on  behalf  of  the  citi 
zens,  a  case  containing  eighty-four  pieces  of  solid  sil 
ver  plate.  That  men  of  all  parties  should  join  to  do 
him  honor  is  stronger  praise  than  any  words  of 
mine. 

In  1886  Mr  Perkins  was  a  candidate  for  the  United 
States  senate,  and  received  a  handsome  vote,  though 
the  ultimate  choice  fell  upon  Hon.  Leland  Stanford. 

During  his  official  career  the  governor  delivered  in 
various  portions  of  the  state  many  lectures  for  the 
benefit  of  churches  and  benevolent  institutions.  In 
the  smaller  towns  people  assembled  from  a  distance 
of  twenty-five  miles  to  listen  to  his  discourses  on 
familiar  topics. 

Mr  Perkins,  while  not  a  graduate  of  any  college, 
has  an  education  that  entitles  him  to  be  classed  as  a 


490  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

fair  representative  of  a  government  whose  affairs 
have  been  shaped  and  controlled  by  men  whose  native 
strength  has  been  largely  developed  by  self-help. 
He  not  only  acquired  information  from  books,  for  he 
has  been  a  student  in  the  midst  of  business,  but  he 
has  his  share  of  that  wisdom  which  Bacon  says 
exists  outside  of  books  and  above  them.  With  the 
cause  of  charity  and  of  philanthropy  he  has  for  many 
years  been  identified.  As  president  of  the  Boys'  and 
Girls'  Aid  society,  in  San  Francisco,  he  has  been 
an  enthusiastic  and  effective  worker  in  retrieving 
young  men  and  women  from  a  life  of  crime  and 
degredation  towards  which  they  had  taken  the  first 
step.  By  himself  and  others  the  institution  has 
been  built  up  from  the  most  meager  beginnings  to  its 
present  wide  scope  of  usefulness.  Since  his  connec 
tion  with  it  homes  have  been  found  for  more  than 
eleven  hundred  neglected  children,  ninety  per  cent  of 
whom  have  been  permanently  reformed.  To  many 
other  benevolent  associations,  including  the  Ladies' 
Relief  society,  kindergarten  schools,  boards  of  Masonic 
relief,  and  the  Old  Ladies'  Home,  he  contributes  money 
freely,  and,  what  is  more  important,  also  his  earnest 
and  timely  labor.  His  religion  consists  largely  in 
doing  good  in  this  way. 

While  a  resident  of  Oroville  Mr  Perkins  became 
connected  with  the  Masonic  order,  filling  most  of  the 
positions  of  the  Blue  lodge  from  junior  Deacon  to 
Master.  Later  he  was  elected  to  some  of  the  highest 
offices  in  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Free  and  Accepted 
Masons  of  California,  and  was  also  chosen  Most  Wor 
shipful  Grand  Master  of  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Califor 
nia.  During  the  great  conclave  of  1883  (when  more 
than  five  thousand  Knights  Templar  were  gathered  in 
San  Francisco,  coming  from  all  the  states  and  terri 
tories  of  the  union),  he  was  elected  the  Grand  Com 
mander  of  the  Grand  Commandery  of  Knights  Templar 
of  that  order  in  California.  He  is  also  a  member  of 
the  Military  order  of  the  Loyal  Legion  of  the  United 


GEORGE   C.   PERKINS.  491 

States,  having  been  elected  for  valuable  assistance 
rendered  during  the  war,  although  he  was  not  in  the 
army. 

Among  other  positions  of  trust  which  Mr  Perkins 
has  held  it  may  be  mentioned  that  from  1879  until 
his  election  as  governor  he  was  president  of  the  San 
Francisco  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  in  1884  he  was 
unanimously  elected  president  of  the  Art  association 
of  San  Francisco.  Between  1876  and  1880  he  was 
one  of  the  trustees  for  the  Napa  asylum  for  the  insane, 
being  the  only  republican  member  of  the  board.  He 
is  also  a  trustee  of  the  asylum  at  Berkeley  for  the 
deaf  dumb,  and  blind,  a  trustee  of  the  state  Mining 
Bureau,  and  for  many  years  a  trustee  of  the  Academy 
of  Sciences  of  San  Francisco.  He  is  a  life  member 
of  the  Mechanic's  Institute,  the  Astronomical  society 
of  the  Pacific,  the  state  Geographical  society,  the 
Youm*  Men's  Christian  Association,  and  of  a  number 

•  • 

of  literary  societies  and  social  clubs. 

In  1864  Mr  Perkins  was  married  at  Oroville  to 
Miss  Ruth  A.  Parker,  a  native  of  Cork,  and  the 
daughter  of  an  English  officer  in  the  excise  service. 
Of  this  lady  it  is  not  out  of  place  to  say  that  at  home, 
a  devotee  to  the  duties  of  wife  and  mother,  she  has 
faithfully  supplemented  the  life  of  her  husband  in  her 
sphere.  Of  their  seven  children,  the  eldest  son,  now 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  graduated  at  St  Matthew's 
college  in  San  Mateo  ;  and  the  second,  a  youth  of  six 
teen,  is  a  student  of  the  high  school  at  Oakland,  and 
was  appointed  in  1889  to  the  naval  academy  at  Annap 
olis,  and  successfully  passed  his  examination,  and  was 
honorably  admitted  a  cadet  to  the  academy.  The 
eldest  of  their  daughters  was  recently  married  to  Mr 
J.  E.  Adams,  a  member  of  a  wholesale  leather  firm, 
San  Francisco. 

To  most  of  my  readers  in  California  the  personnel 
of  the  ex-governor  is  already  familiar;  his  mild,  clear, 
grayish-brown  eyes,  his  dark  brown  hair,  now  threaded 
with  silver,  his  broad,  high  forehead,  and  firmly 


492  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

clasped  lips.  Considerably  above  medium  stature, 
very  erect,  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height,  he  is  of 
large,  though  not  of  bulky,  frame,  a  compact,  well-knit 
figure.  His  constitution,  fortified  by  toil  and  expos 
ure  in  early  life  on  land  and  sea,  is  not  perceptibly 
impaired.  He  is  plain  and  unstudied  in  dress;  in 
manner  cordial  and  unaffected.  His  home  in  Oakland, 
where  he  has  resided  since  retiring  from  political  life, 
is  one  of  comfort  and  elegance,  though  his  habits  are 
simple  and  temperate,  and  his  personal  wants  few.  He 
is  a  pleasant  conversationalist,  and  as  an  after-dinner 
speaker  he  possesses  a  spice  of  good-humored  irony 
that  is  very  agreeable  and  all  his  own. 

This  is  he  who  began  to  be  his  own  guardian  at 
twelve  years  of  age  or  earlier,  and  has  leaned  upon  no 
one  since  ;  who,  landing  on  these  shores  friendless  and 
almost  penniless,  in  five  or  six  years  won  a  respectable 
place  among  the  merchants  of  northern  California. 
At  thirty,  senator;  at  forty,  governor;  while  in  both 
positions  attending  to  large  and  complex  personal 
affairs,  he  entered  upon  the  latter  office  at  a  period 
when  the  community  was  distracted  by  the  labor 
question,  the  Chinese  question,  the  debris  question, 
involving  a  controversy  of  extreme  importance  between 
the  farmers  and  hydraulic  miners  of  the  state ;  and 
the  perplexing  issues  connected  with  the  new  consti 
tution.  Fortunate  was  it  that  at  this  juncture  the 
state  had  at  its  helm  a  man  of  his  discretion  and  integ 
rity  ;  one  who  at  a  time  when  the  old  order  of  things 
having  passed  away  the  new  could  not  be  established 
until  chaos  had  been  overcome,  possessed  the  strength 
and  the  tact  to  control  the  machinery  of  a  govern 
ment  almost  revolutionized. 

He  appears  to  me  as  a  type  of  true  Americanism, 
upright,  charitable,  bold,  versatile  and  laborious,  a 
conservator  and  a  benefactor.  Conspicuous  among 
the  builders  of  this  state  and  coast,  he  has  contributed 
to  California's  progress  by  his  talent  and  industry. 
Compared  with  the  truthful  record  of  such  a  life,  a 


JAMES  P.   TREADWELL.  495 

In  our  study  of  men  as  units  of  the  commonwealth, 
we  are  sometimes  startled  by  our  discoveries.  So 
much  we  see,  so  little  we  know  of  those  about  us, 
that,  on  lifting  the  coverings  of  conventionalism  and 
penetrating  the  personality,  even  of  well-known  char 
acters,  we  find  ourselves  far  away  from  our  supposed 
point  of  view,  and  involved  in  investigations  as  bot 
tomless  as  eternity.  Underneath  these  same  conven 
tional  coverings  of  finer  or  coarser  aspect,  we  may 
behold,  where  least  expected,  the  flood-tide  of  genius, 
the  slow  flow  of  martyrdom,  undreamed  of  exaltation 
of  soul,  with  now  and  then  mighty  problems  under 
going  solution  by  mighty  minds.  It  may  be  thus,  or 
otherwise;  and  when  we  expected  much,  find  little. 
From  behind  pleasing  manners  we  may  draw  forth 
the  hypocrite,  or  find  hidden  beneath  an  impetuous 
exterior,  the  true  nobility  of  calm. 

What  should  we  say,  for  example,  of  James  Parker 
Tread  well,  knowing  him  little ;  what  was  he,  knowing 
him  well  ?  In  the  town  directory,  he  was  called 
attorney  and  capitalist.  This  was  true,  for  he  was  a 
millionaire.  But  it  would  be  erroneous  to  infer  that 
he  took  delight  in  other  men's  quarrels,  or  that  his 
mind  was  altogether  absorbed  in  acquiring  wealth. 

What  then  was  his  life,  and  what  was  he  ?  In  the 
story  of  his  life,  are  found  its  lessons.  His  mission 
was  primarily  to  be  a  man ;  a  conspicuous  figure  in 
our  present  era  of  living ;  to  elevate  the  intellectual 
and  moral,  and  show  us  all  how  to  suffer ;  for  suffer 
ing  and  death,  with  fortitude  or  without  it,  is  the 
great  lesson  of  civilization,  no  less  than  that  of 
savagism. 

Various  are  the  attitudes  in  which  men  display 
their  nature,  the  color  of  mind,  the  flavor  of  thought; 
instance  here  the  man  of  intellect  and  learning  ;  one 
who  liked  to  be  alone  in  his  study,  wrapped  in  ques 
tions  of  philosophy  or  diving  into  books  of  ancient 
law,  of  which  his  knowledge  was  thorough  and  pro 
found;  or  burning  the  midnight  oil  while  solving 


496  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

astronomical  problems,  or  absorbed  in  the  study  of 
chemistry.  Go  with  him  to  the  court-room  where  he 
presented  a  striking  appearance  with  his  fine  physique, 
powerfully-built  body,  nearly  six  feet  in  height,  broad- 
shouldered  and  deep-chested,  his  wonderfully  well- 
shaped  head  and  handsome  profile,  full  nostrils,  face 
of  Roman  type,  strong,  clear  lines,  penetrating  blue 
eyes  which  met  yours  fully,  large,  but  so  well  set  back 
in  his  large  head,  that  to  a  casual  observer  they  did 
not  appear  large;  light  brown  hair  turned  gray, 
closely-cut  beard  and  mustache,  all — even  the  meas 
ured  tread  adding  to  the  impression  of  strength, 
decision,  will;  look  at  him  driving  through  the  streets 
of  the  city,  carrying  the  whip  in  the  right  hand  over 
the  shoulder,  upon  his  head  a  broad,  black  hat,  like  a 
Spanish  sombrero,  about  his  neck  a  heavy  New  Eng 
land  wool-knit  muffler,  giving  him  the  appearance  of 
a  farmer  of  the  olden  time  going  to  mill,  or  as  a  busi 
ness  man,  or  in  his  home,  surrounded  by  his  charm 
ing  family,  the  beloved  husband,  the  adored  father 
was  what  we  love  to  contemplate  a  man. 

Mr  Treadwell  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  born 
at  Ipswich,  June  25,  1817,  of  good  substantial  New 
England  stock,  the  ancestry  on  both  sides  being  readily 
traced  back  for  seven  or  eight  generations.  Moses 
Treadwell  was  the  father  and  Lydia  Bowes  Parker 
the  mother.  The  paternal  grandmother,  Susan  Cogges- 
hall,  was  a  cousin  of  John  Hancock  of  revolutionary 
fame.  The  parents,  like  the  grandparents,  were  quite 
wealthy  for  the  time  in  which  they  lived,  having  inter 
ests  in  lands  and  ships.  Moses  Treadwell,  the  father 
of  James  Parker,  was  a  man  of  great  mora'l  courage, 
which  marked  him  as  an  avowed  student  of  Tom  Paine. 
With  the  aid  of  one  of  his  townsmen,  he  organized 
and  supported,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  a  Unitarian 
church  in  Ipswich. 

Amid  young  playmates,  brothers  and  sisters,  full  of 
life,  fun,  and  mischief,  James  passed  an  exceptionally 
happy  childhood.  What  bright  vision  would  this 


JAMES  P.   TREADWELL.  497 

world  be  could  that  period  always  last!  In  this 
instance,  a  terrible  misfortune  which  befell  the  youth 
at  the  age  of  eight  years,  did  not  wholly  check  his 
joyous  activity.  The  simple  recital  is  touching.  A 
play  fellow,  taking  up  a  gun,  supposing  it  not  loaded, 
pointed  it  at  him  and  said,  "Jim,  I'll  shoot  you!" 
He  fired,  and  the  boy,  bleeding,  his  limb  shattered, 
was  carried  to  the  mother.  It  was  found  necessary 
to  amputate  the  leg.  The  local  physician  lacking 
experience,  a  surgeon  was  brought  from  Boston,  the 
boy  being  kept  unconscious  during  the  necessary 
delay  of  over  twenty-four  hours.  It  is  useless  to 
speak  of  the  sorrow  of  the  parents;  words  cannot 
depict  their  agony.  When  the  boy  returned  to  con 
sciousness  after  the  operation,  he  simply  said : 
"Mother,  my  leg  is  gone!"  and  so,  alas!  it  was,  and 
he  was  compelled  to  wear  an  artificial  limb.  Never, 
so  long  as  he  lived,  did  he  wish  the  subject  mentioned 
to  him  or  discussed  in  his  presence. 

His  bravery  and  patience  during  convalescence  and 
all  through  life,  was  wonderful ;  indeed,  he  was  often, 
in  after  years,  heard  to  remark  that  he  rather  enjoyed 
severe  pain,  as,  by  it,  he  might  prove  to  himself  how 
much  fortitude  he  could  exercise. 

As  a  young  boy  he  cared  nothing  for  books,  but 
nature's  lessons  he  quickly  acquired.  His  courage 
was  indomitable;  he  did  not  know  the  meaning  of 
fear.  He  was  a  born  leader,  and  but  for  this  accident 
would  undoubtedly,  in  later  years,  have  distinguished 
himself  on  the  battle-field,  or  have  been  a  foremost 
man  of  the  nation.  Indeed,  he  has  been  spoken  of 
as  a  Von  Moltke  and  a  Bismarck,  being  equal  to  them 
in  ability. 

And  now  at  the  age  of  thirteen  comes  to  this  boy 
another  blow — the  loss  of  a  mother,  who,  by  her 
tender  love  had  thus  far  greatly  alleviated  his  sorrow; 
and  a  year  afterward  his  father  dies.  Verily,  for  one 
for  whom  the  gods  had  done  much,  it  would  seem 
that  some  of  these  afflictions  might  have  been  spared 
him. 

C.  B.— II.     32 


498  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

After  his  mother's  death,  he  was  sent  to  Bradford 
academy,  and  a  year  later  returned  upon  the  death  of 
his  father,  which  was  likewise  attended  by  loss  of 
property.  He  now  became  a  changed  person.  The 
realities  of  life  were  upon  him. 

He  entered  the  Boston  custom  house  as  his  uncle's 
clerk,  and  after  remaining  two  years  had  seven  hun 
dred  dollars  in  the  bank ;  but  the  bank  failed,  and  he 
lost  it.  When  he  received  the  news  of  the  failure  of 
the  bank,  he  was  studying  at  his  table  by  the  light 
of  two  candles.  He  saw  at  once  the  necessity  for  the 
most  rigid  economy,  quietly  laid  down  the  letter  in 
forming  him  of  his  misfortune — yes,  of  his  ruin,  finan 
cially,  for  it  was  all  he  had  in  the  world — snuffed  out 
one  of  the  burning  candles,  and  proceeded  with  his 
studies.  Meanwhile  he  had  lectured  in  Boston  on 
temperance,  and  on  his  return  to  Ipswich  delivered  a 
Fourth  of  July  oration  in  the  court-house.  For  the 
latter  event,  the  knowledge  of  which  first  became 
known  to  the  family  by  posters  on  trees  and  public 
doors,  preparation  was  made  by  practising  in  the 
barn.  A  party  of  Cambridge  students  from  Ipswich, 
returning  home  for  the  fourth,  on  alighting  from  the 
stage-coach,  were  told  of  James  Treadwell's  attempt 
at  speech-making  at  the  court-house.  "What  fun  1" 
they  exclaimed,  "let  us  go,  and  hear  the  most  mis 
chievous  boy  in  town,  who  was  never  known  to  open  a 
book,  deliver  an  oration."  They  found  the  court-house 
crowded,  and  young  Treadwell  in  the  midst  of  his 
discourse.  He  saw  them  come,  and  taking  in  their 
purpose  fully,  continued  his  remarks  as  unruffled  as 
an  experienced  lecturer.  They  who  came  to  scoff 
remained  to  cheer,  and  the  oration  was  pronounced  a 
success.  As  he  came  out,  the  patriotic  and  learned 
of  the  town  came  forward  to  congratulate  him,  but 
he  drew  himself  up  and  walked  past  them  with  stern 
dignity,  entirely  wrapped  up  in  his  purpose,  caring 
neither  for  censure  nor  praise. 

Independent  from  boyhood,  he  became  more  so,  to 


JAMES  P.   TREADWELL.  499 

which  was  now  added  a  grand  strength ;  it  was  not 
pride,  for  pride  was  ever  unknown  to  him.  His  great 
misfortune  was  now  come  home  to  him,  becoming  the 
drawback  which  must  ever  attend  his  career  in  con 
sequence.  From  this  time  he  devoted  himself  to 
literary  and  scientific  subjects.  He  entered  Harvard 
college,  and  received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts, 
with  the  class  of  1844;  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  Massachusetts,  and  practised  law  successfully  in 
Boston  for  about  seven  years.  In  1851  he  came  to 
California.  Perhaps  there  never  came  to  this  state  a 
more  pronounced  character — strong,  eccentric,  every 
where  grand,  and  entering  here  and  there  the  domain 
of  genius. 

While  undergoing  most  excruciating  pain  from  his 
infirmity,  he  was  often  engaged  in  profound  researcbes. 
While  he  delighted  in  solitude,  as  every  truly  intel 
lectual  man  must,  it  was  not  to  the  exclusion  of  his 
friends.  He  was  charitable  to  the  deserving  poor,  and 
delighted  in  encouraging  the  studious  young.  He  had 
about  him  a  wonderful  magnetism,  which  startled 
and  at  once  claimed  your  attention  and  your  ad 
miration,  but  seldom  touched  the  cords  of  sympathy. 
Intellectual  force  was  what  he  dealt  in.  Knowledge, 
strength,  decision,  were  his  weapons.  He  would 
command  by  logic,  rather  than  win  with  soft  words ; 
failing  to  convince,  he  rarely  attempted  to  persuade ; 
when  he  did,  he  generally  succeeded.  There  was  in 
his  presence  a  preponderance  of  will  and  wisdom, 
which  made  him  a  giant  by  the  side  even  of  strong 
minds.  He  was  a  classical  scholar,  equally  at  home 
in  Latin  or  Greek,  and  accurate  in  his  translations. 
Mathematics  was  a  passion  with  him,  and  during  his 
whole  life  he  found  great  pleasure  in  the  study  of  its 
highest  branches,  and  historical  subjects,  for  which 
his  wonderful  memory  especially  fitted  him.  Pie 
could  give  the  exact  date  of  almost  any  historical 
fact.  His  manner  was  abrupt  in  all  things,  and  he 
would  never  stoop  to  any  of  those  subterfuges  whereby 


500  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

men  seek  to  improve  upon  the  work  of  their  maker. 
He  would  never  espouse  a  wrong  cause  or  question 
able  position,  or  engage  in  fallacious  argument.  He 
never  pretended  to  know  a  thing  when  he  did  not ;  it- 
is  your  weak  minds  only  that  do  that;  those  not  sure 
of  their  footing,  or  who  deal  in  the  intangible  rather 
than  the  real.  His  success  at  the  bar  came  to  him, 
not  as  one  skilled  in  the  art  of  oratory,  but  as  one 
who,  from  a  mind  stored  with  the  riches  of  a  varied 
learning,  drew  upon  its  vast  resources  for  convincing 
reasoning  and  logical  demonstration.  His  intellectual 
powers  were  manifested  in  a  clear  understanding  which 
delighted  in  accurate  knowledge^  and  penetrated  the 
relation  of  things  ;  from  a  wide  and  extensive  knowl 
edge  of  facts  and  precedents,  he  drew  perpetual  prin 
ciples.  Belief  here,  as  everywhere,  must  be  based  on 
evidence  appealing  to  reason,  not  impulse  feeding  the 
imagination.  The  spiritual,  the  intangible,  lying  as 
it  does  beyond  the  domain  of  real  knowledge,  in  a 
realm  of  the  imagination,  to  a  mind  delighting  only 
in  the  accurate  and  demonstrable,  has  no  meaning. 
To  him  who  thus  reasons,  there  is  no  supernatural ; 
hence,  we  find  in  him  strong  materialistic  views,  hold 
ing  little  sympathy  with  the  speculations  and  sophisms 
of  theology,  but  delighting  in  the  interpretation  of 
nature.  And  if,  as  has  been  said  of  him,  with  all  his 
intellectual  power  of  discrimination,  he  could  not  enter 
into  the  mind  of  Socrates  and  St  John,  it  may  have 
been  the  fault  of  Socrates  and  St  John,  rather  than 
his  own ;  for  their  flights  of  fancy  were  wont  to  carry 
them  where  no  sane  mind  could  follow,  and  if  to  live 
the  life  of  the  crucified  be  better  than  to  simply  wear 
the  ideal  as  an  ornament  about  the  neck,  then  is  this 
man's  life  a  lesson  to  all  prating  priests.  It  must 
ever  be  a  source  of  regret  that  the  treasures  of  a  mind 
so  rich  as  this  man's  was  were  never  known  to  the 
literary  world. 

Mr  Treadwell  remained  in  San  Francisco,  Califor 
nia,  twenty-six  years,   till  his  death  in   that  city   on 


JAMES  P.   TREADWELL.  601 

December  27,  1884.  He  practised  law  up  to  the 
later  years  of  his  life,  until  deterred  by  ill  health. 
At  times  he  would  manifest  an  apparent  indifference 
to  monejr,  leaving  dividends  and  interest  uncollected 
for  years.  As  an  instance  showing  this,  it  is  related 
that  upon  the  return  of  a  friend  from  the  city  of 
Washington,  where  he  had  discovered  at  the  treasury 
a  large  amount  of  uncollected  interest  on  bonds  to 
Mr  Treadwell's  credit,  and  who  informed  him  thereof, 
that  Treadwell  indignantly  demanded  of  him,  "Why, 
sir,  do  you  think  I  don't  know  where  my  money  is  ? " 

He  had  inherited  from  his  father,  his  great  rich 
voice,  which  could  be  heard  clearly  for  almost  half  a 
mile,  on  an  open  field.  His  bravery,  which  had  char 
acterized  his  youth,  was  always  a  strong  element  in 
his  nature.  He  was  a  light  sleeper  and  of  keen  hear 
ing.  The  slightest  movement  or  noise  in  his  presence 
would  awaken  him.  He  would  rarely  permit  his 
outer  or  inner  door  to  be  locked  at  night,  though  his 
habit  was  to  keep  valuables  and  large  sums  of  money 
about  him. 

A  portion  of  his  large  property,  consisting  of  about 
ten  blocks  of  land  now  nearly  in  the  heart  of  the  city, 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  Golden  Gate  park,  valued  at 
about  half  a  million  dollars,  has  been  in  litigation  since 
1866,  under  a  squatter's  claim,  itself  one  of  the  many 
bold  conspiracies  connected  with  land  in  the  litigations 
of  California. 

On  the  14th  of  April,  1873,  Mr  Treadwell  married 
Miss  Mabel  Summers,  daughter  of  Henry  Summers, 
who  came  to  California  about  1850  and  died  in  Flor 
ence,  Arizona,  July  15,  1881.  Henry  Summers  was 
a  son  of  Jesse  Summers,  who  was  a  Virginian,  some 
of  the  Summers  family  settling  in  Virginia  and  some 
in  Kentucky.  The  grandfather  of  Jesse  Summers 
was  a  Hollander,  a  descendant  of  the  nobility. 
Jesse  Summers'  father  was  a  volunteer  at  the  age  of 
sixteen,  in  the  revolutionary  war.  Hiram  B.  Sum 
mers,  a  brother  of  Henry,  was  also  an  early  Californian, 


502  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

and  afterwards  a  resident  of  Arizona  territory,  where 
]}e  practised  law  and  was  district  attorney  for  Final 
county.  Henry  and  Hiram  were  the  only  members 
of  the  family  who  came  to  California.  Another 
brother  married  a  sister  of  Ben  Holliday,  prominent 
on  the  Pacific  coast. 

Mrs  Treadwell's  mother  was  a  woman  of  much  per 
sonal  beauty,  which  she  preserved  to  a  great  degree 
up  to  her  death  in  1888.  She  was  the  daughter  of 
John  Hutchinson,  a  substantial  farmer  identified  with 
the  stock  raising  interest  in  Virginia,  of  which  state 
he  was  a  native.  He  moved  with  his  family  from  his 
native  state  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  receiving  the  advantages  of  that  metropolis 
for  his  family,  and  especially  in  the  interest  of  his 
daughter  who  had  been  an  invalid  from  girlhood. 
From  this  state  the  family  came  to  California,  cross 
ing  the  plains  in  1851,  and  located  in  Sacramento 
county,  where  Mr  Hutchinson  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits. 

Mrs  Treadwell  was  born  in  California  and  educated 
in  the  convent  schools  of  Portland  and  Salem,  Ore 
gon.  She  is  a  woman  of  much  refinement,  delicate, 
but  of  marked  individuality,  independent,  and  possess 
ing  much  business  tact  and  ability.  Having  married 
Mr  Treadwell  when  just  emerging  from  her  teens,  she 
has  developed  in  a  measured  degree,  many  of  the  strong 
characteristics  of  her  husband.  She  has  managed 
and  controlled  her  husband's  large  estate,  practically 
unaided  since  his  death.  The  issue  of  this  marriage 
was  six  children  ;  Cynthia  M.,  Maud,  Thalia,  James 
Parker,  Ivan,  and  Parthenia.  Cynthia  M.  and  Par- 
thenia  have  been  removed  by  death,  and  the  four  sur 
viving  children  each  possess  some  of  the  strong  traits 
of  their  talented  father.  Maud  is  like  her  father,  a 
great  reader,  which  she  was,  from  a  very  early  age; 
even  when  a  child,  sitting  in  her  father's  office, 
absorbed  in  a  book  for  hours  at  a  time.  Thalia  is  of 
an  artistic  temperament,  being  especially  fond  of 


JAMES   P.    TREADWELL.  603 

painting  and  drawing,  for  which  she  already  shows 
much  talent.  She  is  fond  of  studying  the  charac 
teristics  of  animals.  She  thinks  a  cow  has  kindly 
expression  in  the  eye;  and  even  in  the  face  of  the 
lion  she  can  see,  like  Rosa  Bonheur,  a  depth  of  soft 
expression.  Don't  they  love  their  tender  young  as 
dearly  as  the  most  gentle  of  God's  creatures  ? 

James  Parker  inherits  his  father's  excellent  mem 
ory  and  love  of  history.  He  often  declares  that  he 
does  not  know  whether  he  will  be  like  his  father,  a 
lawyer,  or  a  historian ;  for  he  believes  that  great  his 
torians  are  more  rare  than  great  lawyers. 

Ivan's  qualities  as  a  child  are  great  good  nature 
and  judgment. 

All  will  agree  that  James  Parker  Treadwell  was  no 
ordinary  man.  The  coming  and  going  to  and  from 
this  planet  of  such  an  intellect  is  the  one  great 
unsolved  mystery  of  the  universe.  Know  we  this, 
how  and  wherefore,  and  we  know  all  things.  That  a 
mind  like  his  should  belong  to  a  religionist  is  not 
possible  ;  it  would  not  be  his  mind.  He  loved  truth 
and  spoke  only  what  he  knew,  and  sought  not  to 
deceive  any.  He  was  an  inspiration  of  the  new  civil 
ization,  a  rnessiah  of  the  new  dispensation. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

LIFE  OF  ORVILLE  C.   PRATT. 

THE  BAR  AND  JUDICIARY  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST — NATIVITY  AND  EDUCATION 
— Ax  WEST  POINT — LEGAL  STUDIES— IN  PRACTICE  AT  ROCHESTER — AT 
GALENA — MISSION  TO  OREGON — INCIDENTS  OF  THE  JOURNEY — SHIP 
WRECKED — SUPREME  COURT  JUDGE — THE  WHITMAN  MASSACRE  CASE — 
OTHER  TRIALS — THE  LOCATION  CONTROVERSY — JUDICIAL  CAREER  IN  CALI 
FORNIA—DECISION — BUSINESS  TRANSACTIONS — MARRIAGE — CHARACTER. 

IT  is  but  doing  scant  justice  to  the  bar  and  judiciary 
of  the  Pacific  coast  to  say  that  among  their  members 
is  a  large  proportion  of  men  whose  learning  and  abil 
ity  would  do  credit  to  older  and  more  settled  com 
munities.  Many  there  are  whose  knowledge  and 
correct  appplication  of  the  principles  of  law, and  whose 
lucid  method  of  presenting  the  most  difficult  and  com 
plex  questions,  with  clearness  and  fullness  of  illustra 
tion,  are  worthy  of  the  great  legal  luminaries  whose 
career  in  the  eastern  states  has  won  for  them  a  world 
wide  reputation.  As  a  rule  it  is  at  the  bar,  rather 
than  on  the  bench,  that  we  look  for  the  highest  order 
of  talent,  the  annual  stipend  even  of  a  supreme  court 
judge  being  less  than  the  amount  often  earned  in 
a  single  month,  and  at  times  even  in  a  single  day, 
by  several  of  our  leading  practitioners.  But  to  this 
there  are  exceptions;  for  in  the  ranks  of  the  judiciary 

(50i) 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  505 

there  are  and  have  been  several  who,  though  assured 
of  a  lucrative  practice  at  the  bar,  preferred  from  high 
and  most  worthy  motives,  as  from  a  sense  of  public 
duty,  or  to  gratify  an  honorable  ambition,  to  accept 
such  laborious  and  ill-remunerated  positions.  Among 
the  more  prominent  instances  may  be  mentioned  that 
of  a  former  judge  of  the  twelfth  judicial  district  court 
of  the  city  and  county  of  San  Francisco,  the  Honor 
able  Orville  C.  Pratt;  and  it  is  no  injustice  either  to 
the  living  or  the  dead  to  say  that  in  the  most  essen 
tial  qualities,  whether  of  a  judge  or  an  advocate,  in 
strength  of  memory,  combination  and  analysis  of  facts, 
in  power  of  close,  logical  reasoning,  in  command  of 
appropriate  language,  and  in  knowledge  not  only  of 
the  law  but  of  men  and  of  the  world,  he  had  f  T 
equals  and  no  superiors  among  his  contemporarr  $„ 
While  introducing  to  the  reader  a  sketch  of  this 
gentleman's  career,  it  may  here  be  further  stated  th*t 
he  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  able  judges  cf 
the  United  States  territorial,  district,  and  supreme 
courts,  of  Oregon,  of  which  state  he  is  also  a  pioneer, 
one  of  that  famous  band  of  whom  it  has  been  well 
said,  as  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  that  "  they  builded 
better  than  they  knew." 

The  judge  was  born  in  Ontario  county,  New  York, 
on  the  24th  of  April  1819,  and  received  his  earlier 
eduction  at  Rushville,  in  that  county,  where  the  pub 
lic  schools  then  ranked  among  the  best  in  the  state. 
The  training  thus  acquired,  extending  from  the  pri 
mary  to  the  high  school  grades,  was  further  supple 
mented  by  a  course  of  classics  and  mathematics  at 
two  local  academies,  and  thus,  before  reaching  his 
seventeenth  year,  he  was  not  only  well  versed  in  those 
branches,  but  had  become  a  thorough  English  scholar. 
His  tastes  and  ability  inclined,  however,  to  the  math 
ematics,  in  which  he  displayed  a  remarkable  proficiency, 
making  himself  master  of  several  branches  of  that 
science,  including  those  necessary  to  the  study  of  its 
highest  departments. 


506  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

In  connection  with  his  school  career  an  incident 
may  be  mentioned  that  will  serve  to  display  in  its 
strongest  light  the  confidence  and  esteem  which  his 
ability,  zeal,  and  earnestness  of  purpose  had  already 
won  for  him  in  the  community.  In  the  winter  of 
1835,  a  law  having  been  passed  by  the  New  York 
legislature  donating  the  sum  of  twenty  dollars  to  all 
common  school  districts  which  subscribed  a  similar 
amount  toward  the  nucleus  of  a  school  library,  after 
discussing  the  matter  with  a  distinguished  clergyman 
of  Albany,  named  E.  N.  Kirk,  he  so  impressed  him 
and  others  with  his  clearness  and  force  of  argument, 
as  well  as  his  fervid  and  unselfish  enthusiasm  in  the 
cause  of  education,  that  it  was  resolved  to  secure  his 
services  as  a  public  advocate.  To  this  end  Mr  Kirk 
secured  the  cooperation,  among  others,  of  James 
Wadsworth  of  Geneseo — the  father  of  General  Wads- 
worth  who  fell  at  Gettysburg — a  gentleman  whose 
wealth  and  family  connections  placed  him  among  the 
most  prominent  men  in  the  state.  The  ability  and 
faithfulness  with  which  Mr  Pratt  fulfilled  his  mission, 
may  be  judged  from  the  fact  that  he  delivered 
addresses  in  each  township  in  the  counties  of  Living 
ston,  Monroe,  and  Erie,  discussing  elaborately  the 
entire  question,  and  succeeding  in  every  instance  in 
establishing  a  good  library  in  each  of  the  several  dis 
tricts.  That  an  inexperienced  youth  should  thus  have 
been  selected  for  a  task  worthy  of  a  mature  and  prac 
tised  speaker,  and  should  have  carried  it  to  a  success 
ful  issue,  was  a  public  service  to  which  the  judge 
looks  back  with  more  of  becoming  pride  than  to  all 
his  forensic  triumphs. 

Soon  afterward  he  received  from  President  Jackson 
an  appointment  to  a  cadetship  in  the  United  States 
Military  academy  at  West  Point,  which  he  entered 
as  a  member  of  the  class  of  1837.  At  that  date,  it  will 
be  remembered,  such  positions  were  not  bestowed  as  the 
result  of  competitive  examinations,  nor  did  the  mem 
bers  of  his  family  possess  any  special  political  influence ; 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  507 

hence  the  nomination  may  be  considered  as  a  recog 
nition  of  the  young  man's  ability  and  strength  of 
character,  and  of  his  promise  of  future  usefulness. 
He  remained  at  West  Point  for  two  years,  and  ranked, 
both  in  conduct  and  studies,  among  the  first  in  his 
class,  although  for  military  studies,  except  when  con 
nected  with  the  higher  mathematics,  he  had  but  little 
taste.  His  ambition  was  to  be  a  lawyer,  and  to  that 
end  he  had  begun  to  prepare  himself  even  before  his 
appointment.  In  the  army  at  that  date  there  was 
little  chance  of  per  ferment,  the  country  being  at  peace, 
a  peace  then  unclouded  by  any  symptom  of  the  storm 
which  a  few  years  later  swept  with  the  fury  of  a  tor 
nado  through  the  fairest  portions  of  the  union.  For 
a  military  man  the  only  prospect  was  to  pass  the  best 
years  of  life  at  some  frontier  pest,  or  perhaps  to  lose 
it  in  some  petty  encounter  with  savages.  Such  a 
career  could  not  satisfy  the  earnest  strivings  of  his 
nature ;  for  with  his  talents  and  ambition  he  thought 
himself  fitted  for  some  wider  and  more  useful  sphere. 
Moreover,  his  father  had  met  with  reverses,  and  being 
past  middle  age,  would  not  be  able  much  longer  to 
support  his  family  in  comfort.  To  Orville,  as  the 
eldest  son,  its  members  would  look  for  aid,  and 
assuredly  they  must  not  look  in  vain.  He  resolved, 
therefore,  to  go  forth  into  the  world  and  earn  for  him 
self  a  name  and  a  fortune,  or  at  least  he  would 
attempt  it,  and  that  at  once.  His  resignation  fol 
lowed,  and  thus  did  his  country  loose  a  good  soldier, 
while  gaining  the  services  of  one  of  the  most  able 
among  her  many  eminent  lawyers  and  jurists.  Had 
he  remained  in  the  army  he  would  doubtless  have 
risen  to  high  rank,  as  did  many  of  his  fellow-cadets  ; 
among  them  generals  Sherman,  McDowell,  Reynolds, 
Hooker,  Halleck.  Ord,  Rosecrans,  Lyon,  Pope,  Buell, 
and  of  the  confederates,  Longstreet  and  Beauregard. 
Among  his  friends  and  relatives  was  a  distinguished 
jurist,  named  Samuel  Stevens,  then  one  of  the  leaders 
of  the  Albany  bar,  and,  at  the  invitation  of  that  gen- 


508  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

tleman,  who  had  observed  his  fitness  for  the  legal  pro-> 
fession,  he  entered  his  chambers  as  a  student,  and  was 
admitted  two  years  later  to  practise  in  the  supreme 
court  of  the  state  of  New  York.  Then  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one  he  began  his  professional  career,  opening 
an  office  in  Rochester,  where  clients  were  not  slow  to 
recognize  his  abilities. 

It  was  the  year  1840,  the  year  of  the  great  presi 
dential  campaign,  perhaps  the  greatest  that  ever 
occurred  in  the  political  history  of  the  United  States, 
when  charges  of  extravagance  and  corruption  were 
freely  preferred  against  the  administration  of  Presi 
dent  Van  Buren,  who,  however,  in  his  last  annual 
message,  answered  them  with  becoming  pride  by 
declaring  the  country  free  from  debt.  During  this 
canvass  he  took  an  active  part  in  supporting  the  great 
democratic  leader,  who  was  again  the  nominee  of  his 
party,  and  addressed  large  audiences  in  the  western 
counties  of  New  York  ;  thus  introducing  himself  to 
the  public,  arid  acquiring  the  self-possession  and  pres 
ence  of  mind  essential  to  success  in  the  legal  profession. 

Already  he  was  widely  recognized  as  a  man  of 
strong  character  and  brilliant  promise,  one  whose  nat 
ural  gifts  were  supplemented  by  unusual  application 
and  power  of  work.  Among  those  to  whom  such 
qualities  recommended  him,  was  Fletcher  M.  Haight, 
one  of  the  leading  practitioners  in  Rochester,  and  the 
father  of  H.  H.  Haight,  afterward  governor  of  Cali 
fornia.  By  that  gentleman  he  was  taken  into  part 
nership,  and  under  the  firm  name  of  Haight  &  Pratt 
the  business  was  successfully  conducted  until  the  for 
mer,  after  the  decease  of  his  wife  in  1842,  to  whom 
he  was  tenderly  devoted,  withdrew  from  the  connec 
tion  and  the  scene  of  his  affliction. 

For  most  men  the  position  to  which  he  had 
attained  thus  early,  with  a  fair  practice  and  prospects 
of  the  brightest,  would  have  been  sufficient  induce 
ment  to  remain  in  the  city  where  he  was  so  well 
appreciated,  but  not  so  with  Mr  Pratt.  At  that  date 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  509 

the  attention  of  many  men  was  directed  towards  the 
west,  as  the  land  where  states  and  commonwealths 
would  spring  into  being  as  at  the  touch  of  a  magic 
wand.  Himself  a  man  of  sanguine  and  fearless  tem 
perament,  he  resolved  to  be  in  the  van  of  those  daring 
and  adventurous  spirits  who  were  already  pushing 
forward  into  that  unknown  and  mysterious  region. 
But  this  he  could  not  do  at  once,  since,  for  the  time 
being,  he  must  live  by  his  profession,  and  as  yet  the 
far  west  was  little  better  than  a  primeval  solitude. 

Toward  .the  close  of  1843,  therefore,  we  find  him  at 
Galena,  Illinois,  where  he  opened  an  office  and  speed 
ily  acquired  a  lucrative  practice.  To  this  point  his 
fame  as  a  public  speaker  had  already  preceded  him,  and 
on  the  8th  of  January  1844,  at  a  meeting  held  on  the 
anniversary  of  the  battle  of  New  Orleans,  he  deliv 
ered  an  address  which  so  moved  the  hearts  and 
appealed  to  the  judgment  of  his  hearers  as  to  attract 
the  attention  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  the  com 
munity.  In  the  same  year,  after  the  nomination  of 
Polk  for  the  presidency,  his  services  as  a  public 
speaker  were  again  in  demand;  and  during  the  cam 
paign  which  followed,  he  ably  canvassed  several 
counties  in  northern  Illinois,  his  speeches  attracting 
the  attention  not  only  of  the  democratic  leaders  of  the 
state  but  even  of  the  successful  candidate  in  that 
exciting  contest. 

The  Texas  question  and  boundary  question  were 
the  chief  issues,  involving,  as  they  did,  the  proposed 
annexation  of  Texas,  and  the  controversy  then  pend 
ing  with  Great  Britain  as  to  the  possession  of  Oregon. 
By  his  familiarity  with  the  points  involved,  and  the 
skill  and  force  with  which  he  discussed  them,  the 
3-oung  lawyer  rendered  valuable  service  to  his  party, 
and  at  the  same  time  gained  for  himself  still  wider 
and  more  favorable  recognition. 

Perhaps  the  best  evidence  of  the  esteem  in  which 
he  was  held  by  the  community  was  his  election  in 
1847  to  the  convention  which  revised  the  first  con- 


510  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

stitution  of  Illinois.  He  was  one  of  the  youngest,  if 
not  the  youngest,  member  of  that  body,  which  con 
tained,  perhaps,  more  men  of  note  than  had  ever 
before  been  assembled  in  any  portion  of  the  state. 
Among  them  were  Stephen  T.  Logan,  the  then  law- 
partner  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  David  Davis,  after 
ward  associate-justice  of  the  United  States  supreme 
court,  and  later  president  of  the  senate.  In  all  its 
deliberations,  extending  over  a  session  of  three  months, 
he  took  an  active  part,  and  especially  on  questions  of 
suffrage  and  finance,  as  to  which  many  of  his  sugges 
tions  were  adopted  by  his  colleagues. 

After  its  close  he  was  appointed  by  W.  L.  Marcy, 
then  secretary  of  war  and  formerly  governor  of  New 
York,  to  whom  in  former  years  he  had  rendered  ser 
vice  by  aiding  in  the  suppression  of  a  local  riot  in  the 
county  of  Albany,  one  of  a  commission  to  investigate 
certain  charges  against  an  armv  officer  stationed  at 

O  */ 

Mann's  fort  on  the  Arkansas  river,  and  who  later 
bacame  governor  of  Colorado.  He  accepted  and  went 
there.  In  support  of  the  charges  no  sufficient  evi 
dence  was  produced,  and  soon  after  forwarding  the 
commissioner's  report  to  that  effect,  he  received  at 
the  hands  of  the  courier,  Kit  Carson,  a  despatch  from 
the  war  department,  requesting  him  to  proceed  to 
Mexico,  California,  and  Oregon,  there  to  inquire  into 
and  report  upon  certain  matters  of  a  confidential 
nature.  He  then  set  forth  for  Santa  Fe,  and  thence 
with  an  escort  of  sixteen  men,  furnished  by  the  gen- 
eral-in-command,  among  them  being  the  adventurous 
negro,  Jim  Beckwith,  whose  name  was  later  given  to 
the  Beckwith  pass,  journeyed  to  Los  Angeles  by  way 
of  the  San  Juan,  Grand,  and  Green  rivers,  over  the 
Wasatch  mountains,  and  through  the  Utah  valley 
and  Cajon  pass,  into  California.  It  was  well  for  the 
expedition  that  it  had  as  its  leader  a  man  of  his  prac 
tical  experience  and  military  training;  for  during  the 
trip  were  encountered  all  the  dangers  and  hardships 
incidental  to  pioneer  days,  when,  from  the  valley  of 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  511 

the  Platte  to  the  vales  of  California  the  route  was 
attended  by  a  continuous  struggle  with  the  obstacles 
of  nature  and  the  hostility  of  savages. 

From  Los  Angeles,  where  his  party  first  heard  of 
the  discovery  of  gold  at  Coloma,  near  the  American 
river,  he  proceeded  to  Monterey,  and  transacted  with 
the  United  States  consul  a  portion  of  the  confidential 
business  with  which  he  had  been  entrusted.  There  he 
met  with  generals,  or  as  they  then  ranked,  lieutenants 
Halleck,  Sherman,  and  Ord,  his  fellow-cadets  at  West 
Point.  His  business  completed  he  left  for  San  Jose, 
where  he  arrived  about  the  middle  of  November,  and 
at  the  request  of  its  leading  citizens  addressed  a  pub 
lic  meeting,  called  to  consider  the  question  of  estab 
lishing  a  provisional  government  until  congress  should 
take  action  in  the  premises.  This  was  the  first  meet 
ing  called  to  obtain  an  expression  of  public  sentiment 
on  the  matter ;  the  resolutions  passed  on  that  occasion 
were  afterward  endorsed  in  San  Francisco,  Monterey 
and  Sacramento,  and  were  followed  by  a  call  for  a 
convention,  made  by  order  of  the  then  military  gov 
ernor,  General  Riley. 

From  San  Jose  he  proceeded  to  San  Francisco,  or 
as  it  was  then  called  Yerba  Buena,  at  that  date  a  vil 
lage  of  only  three  or  four  hundred  inhabitants,  with 
a  few  score  huts  and  adobe  houses  clustering  around 
the  neighborhood  of  Portsmouth  Square. 

It  was  now  the  time  when  the  first  large  consign 
ment  of  gold  was  arriving  from  the  mines  and  all  was 
bustle  and  confusion.  Men  clad  in  greasy  buckskin 
garments,  with  pockets  filled  with  gold-dust  and  nug 
gets,  were  to  be  seen  on  every  street,  discoursing  to 
crowds  of  eager  listeners  of  the  fabulous  wealth  that 
lay  almost  on  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  within 
reach  of  all.  Gambling  was  in  full  blast,  and  the 
gambling-tables  were  heaped  with  gold,  of  which 
everyone  seemed  to  possess  an  abundance,  and  which 
was  squandered  for  the  gratification  of  every  whim, 
caprice  and  vice,  with  but  slight  restraint  and  almost 


512  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

without  sense  of  responsibility.  Merchants  were  busy 
packing  and  forwarding  goods  to  the  mines,  for  which, 
in  the  absence  of  coined  money,  gold-dust  was  taken 
in  exchange  at  $14  per  ounce.  In  a  word,  the  gold 
fever  had  now  fairly  set  in,  and  was  destined  to  cul 
minate  in  an  excitement  such  as  the  world  has  never 
witnessed  before  or  since. 

But  with  all  this  Mr  Pratt  was  not  concerned. 
His  destination  was  Oregon,  of  which  territory  he  had 
been  appointed  by  President  Polk,  in  recognition  of 
his  services  as  confidential  agent  of  the  government, 
an  associate  justice  of  its  supreme  and  district  courts. 
Early  in  December  he  took  passage  for  Portland  on 
the  barque  Undine.  During  the  trip  an  incident 
occurred  which  serves  to  show  that  he  possesses  in 
no  small  degree  what  may  be  termed  the  genius  of 
observation,  which,  as  Balzac  would  have  us  believe, 
constitutes  about  all  the  genius  of  mankind.  After  a 
long  and  stormy  passage,  the  vessel  reached  the  mouth 
of  the  Columbia  toward  nightfall  on  the  twenty-sixth 
day  of  the  voyage.  There  were  none  on  board  who 
were  acquainted  with  the  navigation  of  the  river,  the 
entrance  to  which  was  and  still  is  the  terror  even  of 
experienced  navigators.  Deeming  it  unsafe  to  attempt 
the  crossing  of  the  bar  at  so  late  an  hour,  the  captain 
put  off  to  sea  until  the  following  day ;  and,  meanwhile, 
after  having  carefully  scanned  the  mouth  of  the  river 
and  the  adjacent  coast,  the  judge  had  prepared  a 
small  chart  of  the  entrance,  and  had  marked  thereon 
several  of  the  more  prominent  points,  such  as  Saddle 
mountain,  Point  Adams,  and  Cape  Disappointment. 
On  the  following  day,  as  the  barque  neared  land,  he 
showed  his  drawing  to  the  captain,  remarking  as  he 
did  so,  "If  we  were  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia 
last  night,  we  are  certainly  not  there  now."  The 
latter  paid  little  attention  to  the  warning,  and  after 
some  further  discussion,  the  judge  went  below.  Now 
came  up  a  storm,  and  with  it  an  atmosphere  so  dense 
that  it  was  impossible  to  see  more  than  a  few  rods 


ORVILLE   C.  PRATT.  513 

ahead.  Soon  afterward  the  vessel  struck  thrice  on  a 
sand-bar,  but  the  third  time  lightly,  and  through  good- 
fortune  was  driven  by  the  strength  of  the  wind  into 
the  deep  water  beyond.  At  length  the  captain 
admitted  that  he  was  not  at  the  mouth  of  the  Colum 
bia;  he  had  unwittingly  entered  what  is  at  present 
known  as  Shoal  water  bay,  his  being  the  first  vessel 
that  ever  entered  its  waters. 

The  ship  was  temporarily  abandoned,  and  her  crew 
and  passengers  formed  into  two  parties,  one  of  which 
set  forth  northward  toward  Puget  sound,  suffering 
severely  from  frost  and  snow,  and  the  other  under  the 
direction  of  Judge  Pratt,  who  was  chosen  its  leader 
by  common  consent,  followed  the  coast  line  to  Cape 
Disappointment,  crossing  thence  in  canoes  to  Astoria, 
and  finally  reaching  Portland  in  safety. 

At  that  time  the  people  of  Oregon  were  in  a  most 
unsettled  condition.  A  large  portion  of  the  able-bod 
ied  men  had  left  for  the  gold  mines  of  California,  and 
in  the  small  settlements  there  was  constant  fear  of 
Indian  depredations.  Late  in  the  previous  autumn 
had  occurred  the  massacre  at  Waiilatpu,  whereby  the 
missionary  Whitman  and  his  wife,  with  eleven  others, 
had  lost  their  lives;  and  as  this  atrocious  deed  then 
remained  unpunished  the  setters  were  in  constant 
dread  that  at  any  moment  further  outrages  might  be 
committed.  There  were  no  soldiers  in  the  territory, 
and  but  the  scantiest  supply  of  arms  and  ammunition. 
Farms  and  villages  were  few  and  wide  apart,  and 
throughout  the  land  prevailed  a  general  feeling  of 
insecurity.  Such  was  Oregon  and  its  inhabitants 
when  the  judge  cast  in  his  lot  in  that  territory,  and 
accepted  from  considerations  of  duty,  rather  than  for 
its  honor  or  emoluments,  the  office  of  associate-judge 
at  a  salary  of  $2,000  a  year,  an  amount  far  less  than 
could  be  earned  on  this  coast  at  the  time,  by  a 
mechanic  or  unskilled  laborer,  and  far  below  the 
annual  income  which  he  could  have  earned  by  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  California.  He  was, 


C.  B.— II.    33 


514  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

moreover,  the  pioi  ee '  judge  of  Oregon,  as  his  col 
leagues,  though  appointed,  had  not  yet  arrived.  The 
country  was  newly  settled  and  its  condition  such  as 
had  never  before  been  experienced.  There  was  not 
in  all  the  territory  a  law  library,  and  apart  from  his 
own  small  collection,  there  were  probably  not  half  a 
dozen  law  books.  Thus  he  was  compelled  to  decide 
the  legal  questions  at  issue  as  they  came  before  him, 
without  the  aid  of  authorities  or  precedents.  Few  of 
his  decisions  were  ever  appealed  from,  largely  because 
his  broad  comprehension  and  knowledge  of  the  prin 
ciples  of  law,  and  his  judicial  turn  of  mind  inspired  a 
general  belief  in  his  ability,  and  determination  to  do 
justice  to  the  rights  of  litigants. 

Toward  the  close  of  1848  General  Joseph  Lane, 
the  first  governor,  arrived  in  Oregon,  and  in  the  fol 
lowing  March  entered  upon  his  duties  and  organized 
the  territorial  government,  'Judge  Pratt  and  the  gov 
ernor  being  the  only  officials  appointed  by  the  presi 
dent,  who  were  as  yet  at  their  post.  Later  in 
the  same  month,  Chief- Justice  William  P.  Bryant 
reached  Oregon  City,  where  Judge  Pratt  and  the 
governor  resided,  and  where,  through  a  special  act, 
passed  by  the  first  legislative  assembly,  was  afterward 
held  the  first  session  of  the  supreme  court  of  Oregon, 
and  indeed  the  first  judicial  tribunal  legally  organized 
on  the  Pacific  coast.  At  that  session  judges  Bryant 
and  Pratt  were  its  only  members,  and  on  the  meeting 
of  the  first  legislature  the  latter  administered  the  oath 
of  office  to  its  members,  and  helped  to  set  in  motion 
the  machinery  of  government. 

Within  a  few  months  the  chief  justice  tendered  his 
resignation  on  account  of  ill  health,  returned  to  Indi 
ana,  his  native  state,  where  soon  afterward  occurred 
his  decease.  Meanwhile  Peter  H.  Burnett,  who  had 
been  appointed  associate  judge,  declined  to  accept  the 
position,  having  obtained  more  lucrative  employment 
in  California.  Thus  for  nearly  two  years,  until  the 
arrival  of  their  successors,  the  powers  and  duties  of 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  515 

the  judiciary  were  practically  vested  in  ana  solely 
exercised  by  Judge  Pratt,  who,  during  that  period, 
not  only  held  all  the  terms  of  court  in  his  own  dis 
trict,  but  also  several  of  those  that  should  have  been 
held  by  the  chief  justice,  and  meanwhile  organized 
the  circuit  and  district  courts  in  most  of  the  counties 
of  Oregon. 

During  this  interval  he  tried  many  important  cases, 
botli  civil  and  criminal.  Among  them  was  the  famous 
trial  at  Oregon  City,  in  May  1850,  of  five  of  the  Ind 
ian  chiefs  implicated  in  the  Whitman  massacre.  By 
one  of  their  counsel,  Knitzing  Pritchette,  who  was 
also  territorial  secretary,  a  special  plea  was  entered 
to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  on  the  ground  that  at 
the  date  of  the  massacre  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
had  not  been  extended  over  Oregon ;  and  further,  that 
the  killing  had  occurred  before  the  organization  of  the 
territory,  or  of  any  tribunal  having  jurisdiction  to  try 
the  offence,  the  present  one  having  been  created  by 
the  organic  act  of  August  14,  1848,  a  date  ulterior  to 
that  of  the  massacre.  The  court  ruled,  however,  that 
under  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  congress  dated 
June  30,  1834,  and  other  United  States  laws  framed 
for  the  purpose  of  promoting  trade  and  intercourse 
with  the  Indian  tribes,  and  preserving  peace  on  the 
frontiers,  declaring  all  of  the  territory  of  the  United 
States  west  of  the  Mississippi  and  not  within  the  bor 
ders  of  any  state  to  be  within  the  Indian  country, 
Oregon  must  be  regarded  at  the  date  of  the  massacre, 
November  1847,  as  Indian  territory.  Moreover,  as 
the  treaty  with  Great  Britain  in  1846  had  ceded  to 
the  United  States  all  of  Oregon  south  of  the  forty- 
ninth  parallel,  it  followed  that  under  the  provisions 
of  the  United  States  laws  in  force  in  the  ceded  Indian 
territory,  crimes  committed  therein  were  punishable 
by  the  proper  United  States  tribunal,  whether  estab 
lished  before  or  after  the  offence.  The  facts  alleged 
in  the  indictment  were  sufficient  to  show  that  a  crime 
had  been  committed  under  the  laws  in  force  at  the 


516  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

place  of  its  commission;  and  the  subsequent  creation 
of  a  court  in  which  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the 
defendants  could  be  determined  was  immaterial,  and 
could  not  deprive  it  of  jurisdiction.  Such  legislation 
was  not  in  its  purpose  or  effects  to  make  an  act  a 
crime  which  at  the  time  of  its  commission  was  inno 
cent,  but  simply  remedial,  to  enable  a  previously  com 
mitted  offence  to  be  punished.  Exception  was  taken 
to  this  ruling,  the  trial  proceeded,  and  the  men  were 
convicted,  and  sentenced  to  be  hung,  the  day  appointed 
for  the  execution  being;  the  3d  of  June.  Between  the 

O 

time  of  their  conviction  and  the  date  fixed  for  execu 
tion  the  governor  was  absent  from  Oregon  City,  and, 
as  was  rumored,  visited  the  mines  near  Yreka,  in 
northern  California.  Thereupon  Secretary  Pritchette, 
whose  intemperate  habits  too  often  clouded  his  better 
judgment,  announced  that,  as  acting  governor  under 
the  provisions  of  the  organic  act,  he  would  grant  a 
reprieve,  pending  an  appeal  to  the  supreme  court  at 
Washington.  On  this  announcement  the  utmost 
exasperation  prevailed  among  the  people,  who  had 
assembled  from  all  the  country  around  to  witness  the 
execution.  There  were  as  yet  no  jails  in  the  territory, 
and  the  convicted  chiefs  were  kept  under  guard  on  an 
aljaoent  island,  the  bridge  connecting  it  with  the 
miinland  being  held  by  a  detachment  of  riflemen. 
It  was  feared  that  they  might  escape  if  the  secretary 
carried  out  his  intention,  and  the  greatest  indignation 
was  expressed  at  the  mere  suggestion  of  such  a  possi 
bility.  In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  the  United 
States  marshal  called  on  Judge  Pratt  for  instructions 
as  to  the  course  he  should  take  in  case  of  the  secre 
tary's  interference.  The  judge  promptly  answered, 
"That  as  there  was  no  official  evidence  of  the  governor's 
absence  from  the  territory,  all  proceedings  on  the  part 
of  Sacretary  Pritchette  should  be  disregarded."  On 
hearing  this  the  acting  governor  abstained  from  tak 
ing  farther  measures ;  the  execution  took  place,  and 
the  popular  agitation  at  once  subsided. 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  517 

During  the  trial,  at  which  from  four  to  five  hun 
dred  spectators  were  present,  watching  the  proceedings 
with  intense  anxiety,  there  prevailed  all  the  decorum 
and  solemnity  of  a  religious  service;  and  yet  no  one, 
save  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  condition  of 
affairs  and  the  tone  of  public  sentiment  then  prevail 
ing,  can  realize  the  interest  displayed  by  the  entire 
community  on  this  memorable  occasion.  The  possi 
bility  that  the  assassins  might  escape  through  some 
technicality  was  sufficient  to  arouse  a  cry  of  vengeance 
throughout  the  land.  Had  they  been  discharged 
from  custody,  or  even  had  their  execution  been  post 
poned,  they  would  probably  have  been  hanged,  or 
more  likely  torn  to  pieces  by  an  infuriated  populace. 
Then  would  have  followed,  by  way  of  retribution,  a 
massacre  by  the  Indians  of  many  of  the  settlers  and 
their  families  throughout  the  Willamette  valley,  and 
the  scenes  that  were  likely  to  ensue  are  beyond  the 
power  of  language  to  describe.  Through  the  firm 
attitude  of  Judge  Pratt  in  this  trying  crisis,  his  cool 
ness  and  determination,  and  his  quick  and  clear  grasp 
of  the  situation,  such  a  catastrophe  was  averted.  In 
this,  as  in  other  instances,  it  was  conceded  that  he 
possessed  in  a  marked  degree  the  qualities  needed  to 
uphold  and  enforce  the  administration  of  justice  among 
a  border  community,  unaccustomed  to  the  restraints 
of  society  and  statutory  law.  Indeed,  throughout 
his  entire  judicial  career,  his  position  was  firm,  digni 
fied,  and  fearless,  and  his  entire  course  of  action  was 
not  only  commended  by  the  people,  but  emphatically 
approved  by  the  government. 

In  those  pioneer  days  the  administration  of  justice 
in  Oregon  was  marked  by  many  peculiarities.  As  an 
instance  may  be  mentioned  a  trial  at  Astoria  of  a  man 
named  McGunnigle,  who  had  been  indicted  by  the 
grand  jury  for  selling  liquor  to  Indians.  After  being 
convicted  and  sentenced  by  Judge  Pratt  to  pay  a  fine 
of  $500,  and  in  default  committed  to  the  custody  of 
the  United  States  marshal,  it  was  soon  afterward 


518  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA, 

reported  that  the  prisoner  had  made  his  escape.  Now 
it  chanced  that  both  the  prisoner  and  the  marshal 
lived  and  cohabited  with  Indian  women,  and  were  the 
fathers  of  several  half-breed  children.  TJiis  circum 
stance,  coupled  with  the  speedy  escape  of  McGunni- 
gle,  aroused  the  judge's  suspicions,  arid  as  the  event 
proved  not  without  reason.  While  during  the  after 
noon  recess  of  the  court,  he  was  strolling  through  the 
edge  of  the  woods  on  the  bank  of  the  Columbia,  he 
heard  a  rustling  in  the  brush  near  by,  and  looking  in 
that  direction,  observed  two  men  cautiously  making 
their  way  to  the  river  bank,  where  a  canoe  awaited 
their  arrival.  One  of  the  men  was  McGunnigle, 
and  the  other  the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury  which 
had  found  the  indictment.  The  judge  hailed  them 
instantly  and  ordered  them  to  stop ;  whereupon  the 
grand  juror  took  to  the  brushwood,  and  McGunnigle, 
deeming  discretion  the  better  part  of  valor,  meekly 
surrendered,  and  returning  with  the  judge  to  the 
courtroom,  was  retained  into  custody  until  he  had 
paid  his  fine. 

By  Judge  Pratt  was  held  at  Portland  in  1849  the 
first  court  of  admiralty  within  the  present  limits  of 
Oregon  and  California,  and  during  its  session  the 
French  barque  L'Etoile  du  Matin,  having  been  libeled, 
was  condemned  and  ordered  to  be  sold.  Congress 
having  conferred  on  the  judges  of  the  United  States 
supreme  court  of  Oregon  admiralty  jurisdiction  in 
California,  in  the  winter  of  1849-50,  by  request  of 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury,  he  consulted  with  the 
collector  of  customs  in  San  Francisco  as  to  the 
frequent  violation  of  the  revenue  laws,  and  there,  also, 
assisted  in  the  adjustment  of  several  admiralty  cases. 

In  August  1850  John  P.  Gains,  who  was  the  newly 
appointed  governor,  arrived  in  Oregon,  and  with  him 
Judge  William  Strong,  the  successor  of  Burnett  for 
the  third  district;  Thomas  Nelson,  the  chief  justice, 
being  delayed  until  April  1851.  Soon  afterward 
began  the  famous  "location  controversy  "  of  1851-2, 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  5P9 

the  matter  at  issue  being  the  selection  of  the  capital, 
a  question  which  caused  intense  excitement  through 
out  the  territory.  From  the  party  which  vindicated 
the  rights  of  the  people  during  this  memorable  strug 
gle,  were  early  chosen  the  political  leaders  of  Oregon; 
and  to  Judge  Pratt,  on  whom  largely  rested,  as  the 
sequel  disclosed,  the  determination  of  the  legal  ques 
tions  involved,  was  accorded  by  the  consent  of  all 
the  credit  of  coming  boldly  forward  as  the  people's 
champion.  But  to  explain  clearly  the  nature  and 
origin  of  this  dispute  a  brief  digression  will  be  neces 
sary. 

In  1844  it  was  enacted  by  the  then  provisional 
legislature  of  Oregon,  that  the  statutes  of  Iowa, 
passed  at  the  first  session  of  its  legislature  in  1838  as 
amended  in  1843,  together  with  the  common  law  of 
England  and  the  principles  of  equity,  should  become 
the  laws  of  the  territory,  so  far  as  the  former  were 
compatible  with  the  conditions  and  circumstances  of 
the  country.  Of  the  revised  statutes  of  Iowa,  sev 
eral  copies  had  been  brought  into  the  country  by  the 
immigrants  of  1844-5;  and  at  the  first  session  of  the 
territorial  legislature  held  in  1849  an  act  was  passed 
whereby  seventy-two  of  these  Iowa  statutes,  after 
ward  published  in  the  form  of  "blue  books,"  were 
declared  to  be  the  laws  of  Oregon. 

In  the  following  year  the  latter  territorial  act  was 
publicly  declared  by  the  then  United  States  district 
attorney,  Amory  Holbrook,  to  be  void,  on  the  ground 
that  it  conflicted  with  a  clause  in  the  organic  act 
which  provided  that,  "to  avoid  improper  influences 
which  may  result  from  intermixing  in  one  and  the 
same  act,  such  things  as  have  no  proper  relation  to 
each  other,  every  law  shall  embrace  but  one  subject, 
and  that  shall  be  expressed  in  the  title."  By  Judge 
Pratt,  while  he  was  the  only  judge  in  the  territory, 
no  attention  was  paid  to  Holbrook's  dictum;  but  by 
the  new  officials  a  different  opinion  was  held,  and 
during  the  next  session  of  the  legislature,  which  was 


520  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

composed  largely  of  democrats,  a  fierce  antagonism 
between  its  members  and  the  newcomers,  was  devel 
oped.  On  the  1st  of  February  1851  an  act  was 
passed  by  that  body  to  provide  for  a  selection  of  sites 
for  the  public  buildings  of  the  territory,  and  the  seat 
of  government  was  located  at  Salem,  with  the  peni 
tentiary  at  Portland  and  the  university  at  Corvallis. 
Two  days  afterward  the  governor  forwarded  a  mes 
sage  declaring  the  act  invalid  on  the  ground  that  it 
embraced  more  than  one  subject,  and  was  obnoxious 
to  the  inhibitions  of  the  organic  act.  He  must  there 
fore  refuse  to  sanction  the  expenditure  of  the  money 
appropriated  for  the  erection  of  public  buildings. 

Although  the  governor  did  not  possess  the  veto 
power,  his  decision  had  virtually  the  effect  of  a  veto, 
and  was  deeply  resented  by  a  majority  not  ouly  of 
the  members  of  the  legislature  but  of  the  constituen 
cies  which  they  represented.  Moreover,  it  was  gen 
erally  believed  that  his  interference  was  caused,  not 
on  the  ground  alleged,  but  by  his  reluctance  to 
abandon  Oregon  City,  where  he  was  already  com 
fortable  quartered,  for  the  remote  village  of  Salem. 
Before  the  next  session  of  the  legislature  the  subject 
was  widely  discussed,  and  it  soon  became  evident  that 
a  majority  of  the  members  would  assemble  at  Salem, 
which  was  then  much  nearer  the  centre  of  population 
than  Oregon  City ;  for  at  that  date  nine-tenths  of  the 
entire  inhabitants  were  settled  in  the  Willamette  val 
ley.  It  was  also  understood  that  judges  Nelson  and 
Strong,  with  most  of  the  federal  officials,  including 
the  governor,  would  assume  the  location  act  to  be 
invalid  in  advance  of  its  adjudication,  regard  Oregon 
City  as  the  seat  of  government,  and  officially  act 
accordingly. 

Judge  Pratt  was  the  only  one  who  expressed  a 
contrary  view,  insisting  that  the  act  was  presumptively 
valid,  and  should  officially  be  so  treated  until  it  was 
otherwise  adjudged.  By  him  it  was  urged  that  the 
location  of  the  seat  of  government  was  exclusively  in 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  521 

the  hands  of  the  legislative  assembly,  as  declared  in 
section  15  of  the  organic   act,  which  provided  that 
"the  legislative  assembly  of  the  territory  of  Oregon 
shall  hold  its  first  session  at  such  time  and  place  in 
said  territory  as  the  governor  thereof  shall  appoint 
and  direct ;  and  at  said  first  session,  or  as  soon  there 
after  as  they   shall  deem  expedient,  the  legislative 
assembly  shall  proceed   to  locate  and  establish  the 
seat  of  government  for  said  territory,  at  such  place  as 
they  may  deem    eligible."     Thus  it  was  clear  that, 
while  the  governor  could  convene  the  first  session  of 
that  body  at  whatever  place   he  chose,  as  he  had 
already  done,  he  had  no  authority  thereafter  in  locat- 
iu<*  the  territorial  capital.     The  three  departments  of 
government,  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive,  were 
entirely  distinct  and  independent  of  each  other,  and 
each  must  look  for  the  measure  of  its  respective  pow 
ers  to  the  express  provisions  of  the  organic  law.    Each 
one,  while  sovereign  within  its  own  province,  must 
keep  within  its  proper  sphere,  and  in  case  of  a  conflict 
between  them,  whether  caused  by  a  disregard  of  the 
organic  law  or  through  usurpation  by  one  of  authority 
belonging   to  another,  the  rightful   remedy  was  not 
vested  in  the  executive,  but  in  the  judicial  power, 
when  acting  as  a  court  at  a  legal  time  and  place.    The 
organic  law  was  the  basis  of  all  legislative  and  execu 
tive  powers,  and  if  its  imperative  provisions  were  dis 
regarded  in  any  act  of  the  legislature,  such  act  could 
and  would   be   determined  to  be  null  and  void  on 
adjudication.     But  because  some  particular  law  was 
deemed  null  and  void  by  one  or  more  of  the  judges, 
who  did  not  constitute  a  tribunal  with  legal  authority 
to  pass  upon  it,  such  opinion  did  not  make  it  so,  for 
only  through  the  judgment  of  a  competent  court  could 
its  nullity  be  adjudged. 

Into  this  controversy  all  the  judges  were  drawn, 
and  from  it  arose  many  complications,  through  the 
interference  by  judges  Strong  and  Nelson  with  the 
process  and  judicial  powers  of  Judge  Pratt,  so  that 


522  GOVERNMENT-  CALIFORNIA. 

finally  it  became  almost  impossible  to  maintain  the 
rightful  authority  of  either  of  the  courts  or  their 
judges.  On  the  1st  of  December  1851  judges  Strong 
and  Nelson  assumed  to  open  and  hold  a  term  of  the 
supreme  court  at  Oregon  City,  in  advance  of  any 
adjudication  of  the  invalidity  of  the  location  act, 
which  with  other  laws  required  such  session  to  be 
held  at  Salem,  the  then  territorial  capital.  At  the 
same  time  the  members  of  the  legislature,  with  five 
exceptions,  under  the  presumption  of  the  validity  of 
the  location  law,  opened  their  session  at  Salem,  and 
soon  afterward,  in  compliance  with  a  legislative  reso 
lution  and  request,  Judge  Pratt  delivered  an  official 
opinion  on  the  legality  of  the  location  act,  in  which 
he  ably  sustained  it,  declaring  that  the  place  of  their 
then  session  was  legal,  and  that  all  acts  which  mi^ht 

•  • 

be  passed,  if  in  accordance  with  the  organic  law, 
would  be  valid  so  far  as  the  place  of  enactment  was 
involved,  because  the  act  locating  the  territorial  seat 
of  government  was  presumptively  valid;  that  it  was 
not  void,  and  could  be  only  so  treated  after  being 
legally  so  adjudged,  which  had  not  been  done.  By 
the  other  judges  a  different  opinion  was,  of  course, 
expressed,  and  meanwhile  the  governor  gave  notice 
that  he  would  pay  no  attention  to  the  enactments 
passed  by  the  "  Salem  legislature."  Thus  a  state  of 
confusion  and  uncertainty  prevailed  throughout  the 
territory,  and  it  was  generally  feared  that  scenes  of 
disorder  and  lawlessness  would  ensue. 

In  order  to  prevent  judicial  interference  with  the 
measures  of  the  legislature,  an  act  was  passed  limiting 
Judge  Nelson's  district  to  the  county  of  Clackamas, 
and  so  appointing  the  several  terms  of  tie  district 
courts  and  the  judges  to  hold  them,  in  all  the  coun 
ties  south  of  the  Columbia  river  except  Clackamas, 
that  all  of  them  came  within  Judge  Pratt's  district. 
Judge  Strong's  district,  however,  was  left  north  of 
the  Columbia.  When,  in  disregard  of  this  act,  Judge 
Nelson  afterward  repaired  to  Salem,  in  Judge  Pratt's 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  523 

new  district,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  court  in  Marion 
county,  he  was  met  by  a  committee  of  its  citizens, 
who  informed  him  that  a  session  had  just  been  holden 
by  Judge  Pratt,  in  conformity  with  law,  and  that  if 
he  disregarded  it,  the  town  would  neither  afford  him 
food  nor  shelter.  Thereupon  the  chief  j  ustice  promptly 
left,  and  returned  to  Oregon  City. 

Soon  afterward  a  memorial  to  congress  was  passed 
by  the  legislative  assembly,  expressing  in  the  strong 
est  terms  the  popular  view  of  the  controversy,  earn 
estly  deprecating  the  appointment  of  strangers  and 
non-residents  to  federal  offices,  and  requesting  that 
the  people  of  the  territory  be  allowed  to  designate  by 
popular  vote,  and  from  the  residents  of  Oregon,  their 
governor,  secretary,  and  judges.  This  memorial  was 
approved  by  the  judgment  of  the  people,  and  did 
much  to  influence  them  against  "imported  federal 
officials,"  as  the  men  were  termed  who  had  opposed 
the  location  act.  By  almost  the  entire  community 
this  act  was  upheld,  not  only  on  legal  but  local  and 
personal  grounds ;  and,  in  fact,  it  became  practically 
valid  through  the  sheer  force  of  public  opinion,  largely 
created,  as  was  conceded  at  the  time,  by  the  ability, 
tact,  and  reputation  of  Judge  Pratt.  Finally,  on  the 
4th  of  May  1852,  congress  removed  all  doubts  on  the 
subject  by  passing  almost  unanimously  an  act  approv 
ing  and  ratifying  the  legislative  location  of  the  terri 
torial  capital  at  Salem,  together  with  the  subsequent 
session  of  the  legislature  there,  and  the  laws  enacted 
by  it.  Soon  afterward  judges  Nelson  and  Strong 
were  removed  from  office  by  the  president,  and  to 
Judge  Pratt,  who  was  the  champion  of  the  legislature 
and  of  the  location  act,  and  although  the  youngest  of 
the  officials  had  taken  a  leading  part  in  the  contest, 
was  awarded  the  palm  of  victory. 

Thus  we  have  traced  the  leading  incidents  in  the 
judge's  official  career  in  Oregon,  from  the  time  when 
the  first  court  established  in  that  territory,  or  even 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  under  the  authority  of  the  United 


524  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

States,  was  held  by  him  at  Lafayette,  the  county  seat 
of  Yainhill,  in  September  1849.  There  lies  before 
me  the  old  paper  docket  of  the  circuit  court  of  the 
provisional  government  for  the  county,  with  the  dis 
position  then  made  by  him  of  the  several  cases  which 
he  found  thereon,  entered  in  his  neat  and  striking- 
hand  in  the  "  Remarks  "  column  of  the  docket,  and 
signed  "  O.  C.  Pratt,  judge."  From  that  date  until 
the  spring  of  1853  he  served  as  judge  in  Oregon  with 
ability  and  distinction. 

The  value  of  his  services  to  Oregon  was  not  in  the 
number  of  cases  tried  before  him,  nor  the  amount 
involved  therein,  so  much  as  their  character  and  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  arose  and  were  dis 
posed  of.  His  judicial  career  covered  a  formative 
period  in  the  history  of  the  country,  when  precedents 
were  not  so  much  followed  as  made.  In  this  work  of 
blazing  the  line  and  marking  the  corners  of  the  law, 
in  a  yet  unformed  community,  he  did  much  during  his 
few  years  on  the  bench  and  did  it  well. 

With  a  large  and  varied  knowledge  of  human 
affairs  and  pursuits,  and  an  active,  analytic  mind,  he 
readily  comprehended  the  merits  of  a  controversy, 
and  had  a  correct  perception  of  the  facts  involved  in 
it  and  of  their  relative  value.  For  want  of  this  clear 
ness  of  perception  many  decisions  of  learned  judges 
fall  short  or  wide  of  the  mark  ;  but  Judge  Pratt  being 
usually  right  in  his  premises,  seldom  erred  as  to  the 
law  arising  thereon. 

His  industry  and  punctuality  in  the  discharge  of 
his  public  duties,  as  well  as  in  his  private  affairs,  were 
exceptional.  His  court,  however  plain  or  primitive  the 
room  or  its  appointments,  would  compare  favorably  in 
dignity  and  decorum  with  any  in  the  land.  In  this 
respect  the  state  of  Oregon  owes  him  much.  The 
example  has  borne  good  fruit,  the  evidence  of  which 
may  still  be  seen  in  the  deference  paid  throughout 
the  country  to  judicial  tribunals  and  proceedings. 

In  person  and  manner  he  was  extremely  neat  and 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  525 

polite,  and  his  demeanor  generally  was  in  striking  and 
favorable  ccn:rast  with  that  of  many  public  men  in 
new  countries,  who  seem  to  think  that  the  road  to 
popular  favor  lies  through  coarseness  and  vulgarity. 

As  a  lawyer  he  had  a  vigorous  grasp  on  the  ele 
mentary  principles  of  the  science  of  tne  law,  which 
enabled  him  without  books  or  the  suggestions  of 
learned  counsel,  rightfully  and  readily  to  solve  the 
often  singular  and  original  problems  involved  in  the 
application  of  established  rules  and  maxims  to  the 
new  and  unprecedented  social  and  economic  conditions 
and  combinations  then  existing  in  Oregon. 

As  a  token  of  the  appreciation  of  his  judicial  career 
in  Oregon,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  1886  the 
regents  of  the  university  of  Oregon  conferred  on  him 
the  honorary  degree  of  doctor  of  laws — the  only 
honory  degree  that  has  ever  been  bestowed  by  that 
institution. 

In  his  annual  report  for  that  year  the  president  of 
the  board  of  regents  remarked  that  "the  propriety  of 
conferring  the  honor  was  so  apparent  as  to  be  gener 
ally  recognized  and  acknowledged,"  and  added,  "speak 
ing  for  myself,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  Oregon 
is  muoh  indebted  to  him  for  the  diligent  and  faithful 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  high  office,  at  a  period 
when  foundations  were  being  laid  and  precedents  estab 
lished,  and  the  firm  and  impartial  hand  with  which  he 
administered  the  law  and  upheld  the  dignity  and 
authority  of  the  courts  of  justice,  in  the  formation 
period  of  our  career  as  a  political  and  social  com 
munity." 

Ever  since  his  arrival  on  the  Pacific  coast  the  judge 
had  conceived  a  strong  preference  for  California  as  a 
permanent  home,  and  it  was  only  the  duties  of  his 
office  and  private  interests  which  had  so  long  delayed 
his  change  of  residence.  By  his  friends — and  he  had 
formed  many  strong  and  lasting  friendships  among 
the  most  prominent  of  Oregon's  inhabitants — he  was 
urgently  importuned  to  abandon  his  purpose;  but  in 


526  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

vain  was  importunity,  as  well  as  numerous  promises 
of  many  of  the  most  influential  men  to  do  all  in  their 
power  to  secure  his  election  as  United  States  senator 
when  the  territory  should  be  admitted  into  the  union. 
In  June  1856  he  removed  to  San  Francisco,  where 
he  formed  a  partnership  for  three  years  with  Alex 
ander  Campbell,  senior,  who  had  been  a  leading  prac 
titioner  in  the  courts  of  Oregon  over  which  the  judge 
had  presided.  The  firm  soon  acquired  an  extensive 
and  lucrative  practice,  more  especially  in  land  cases, 
for  the  conduct  of  which,  as  will  presently  appear, 
one  of  its  members  was  especially  qualified. 

At  the  end  of  the  copartnership  the  connection  was 
dissolved,  and  Mr  Pratt  was  afterward  elected  judge 
of  the  twelfth  judicial  district  court  for  the  city 
and  county  of  San  Francisco  and  the  county  of  San 
Mateo.  During  his  six  years'  tenure  of  office  he  was 
called  upon  to  decide  a  large  number  of  important 
cases,  involving  great  and  varied  interests;  and  in  his 
decisions  litigants  generally  acquiesced,  knowing  that 
his  determinations  were  founded  on  a  careful  and  con 
scientious  study  and  interpretation  of  the  law,  while 
his  reputation  for  integrity  and  scrupulous  regard  for 
justice  was  beyond  dispute.  Perhaps  his  ability  was 
displayed  to  the  best  advantage  in  the  decision  of 
land  cases,  in  which  his  powers  of  analysis  and  eluci 
dation  in  weighing  and  applying  every  point  of  the 
law  and  evidence  appropriately,  thereby  dispelling 
the  vague  uncertainty  then  attached  to  most  land 
titles,  caused  his  decisions  to  be  regarded  by  many  as 
classics  of  the  law  in  such  cases. 

Of  these  decisions  one  or  two  instances  must  suffice. 
In  the  case  of  Mayo  vs.  Andrews  et  al.,  the  action 
being  to  recover  certain  lots  in  Sacramento  city,  and 
the  source  of  title  through  which  both  parties  claimed 
being  two  grants  made  to  John  A.  Sutter  by  the 
Mexican  government,  and  afterwards  confirmed  by 
United  States  patent,  the  questions  decided  by  him 
involved  and  settled  the  validity  of  the  Sutter  title 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  527 

to  more  than  a  thousand  homes  in  the  city  of  Sacra 
mento  and  its  vicinity.  It  was  rendered  on  the  14th 
of  June  1869,  and  was  regarded  by  the  legal  profes 
sion  and  the  general  public  as  having  removed  a  cloud 
which  had  long  obscured  and  impaired  Sacramento 
titles,  to  the  great  injury  of  owners.  Its  remarkable 
clearness  of  statement  and  cogency  of  reasoning  were 
observed  and  conceded  by  all  interested.  As  to  the 
description  or  location  of  the  granted  lands — one  of 
the  main  points  at  issue — he  thus  expressed  himself: 
"  That  which  is  particularly  referred  to  and  set  forth 
as  a  description  of  lands  in  a  grant  or  patent  always 
controls;  and  if  any  repugnance  is  found  between  a 
general  description  and  a  particular  one,  the  former 
must  yield  to  the  latter.  .  .  This  particular  descrip 
tion,  although  found  in  documents  referred  to  and 
distinct  from  the  grant  itself,  nevertheless  forms  a 
part  of  it,  and  must  be  looked  to  for  knowledge  to 
determine  what  was  intended  to  be  conveyed." 

After  defining  the  limits  of  the  grant,  he  continues: 
"  In  construing  a  description  of  land  delineated  on  a 
plan  or  map,  which  has  marked  thereon  fixed  and 
determined  objects,  together  with  indicated  courses 
and  distances,  determinable  only  by  measurement  or 
mathematical  calculation,  it  is  obvious  that  what  is 
fixed  and  determined  must  control  that  which,  not 
being  settled,  remains  indeterminate.  In  other  words, 
visible  objects  on  lands,  when  named  or  delineated  as 
calls  in  descriptions  thereof/  must  of  necessity  control 
all  supposed  points,  lines,  courses,  and  distances.  Of 
sucli  are  indicated  parallels  of  latitude,  for  being,  as 
the}'  are,  imaginary,  and  only  accurately  determinable 
as  distances  from  the  equatorial  line  as  their  base  by 
correct  astronomical  observations  and  computation  of 
numbers,  they  may  or  may  riot  be  properly  delineated 
on  a  plan  or  map  in  any  given  case,  where  referred  to 
as  means  to  admeasure  any  portion  of  the  earth's  sur 
face.  Therefore,  whether  such  lines  so  laid  down  are 
true  or  otherwise  is  entirely  immaterial,  provided 


528  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

always  that  the  fixed  calls  or  monuments  in  a  descrip 
tion  are  certain  and  sufficient  to  locate  the  described 
lands,  independently  of  the  named  and  supposed  lines 
of  latitude."  Thus  clearly  did  the  judge  lay  down 
principles  which  set  at  rest  the  title  to  property  valued 
at  many  millions  of  dollars. 

In  the  case  of  W.  W.  Johnston  et  al.  vs.  The  Board 
of  Supervisors  of  San  Francisco,  the  proceedings  being 
in  equity,  he  rendered  a  most  important  decision  on 
pueblo  lands.  It  was  admitted  that  the  title  to  the 
lands  was  vested  in  the  municipal  corporation,  over 
the  affairs  of  which  the  defendants  exercised  certain 
limited  powers,  and  the  questions  mainly  to  be  deter 
mined  were  whence  and  how  such  titles  became  so 
vested,  and  to  what  uses,  as  well  as  where  the  power 
was  then  lodged,  and  the  means  whereby  it  could  be 
rendered  effectual.  After  tracing  the  origin  of  these 

o  o 

titles  to  its  source,  under  the  Spanish  regime,  together 
with  the  purposes  for  which  such  lands  were  set  apart, 
or  in  a  word,  the  pueblo  system,  as  it  existed  in  pas 
toral  California,  the  judge  said  :  "The  system  did  not 
contemplate,  because  not  necessary  to  accomplish  its 
objects,  that  the  fee  or  absolute  title  to  any  part  of 
such  lands  should  ever  be  vested  in  the  pueblo,  or 
town,  in  its  municipal  or  corporate  character;  but  it 
was  intended  by  the  laws  on  that  subject  that  the 
proper  authorities  of  the  town  should  be  clothed  with 
the  power,  in  the  nature  of  an  agency  from  the  sov 
ereign  power  of  the  country,  on  proper  application,  to 
be  made  by  such  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  as 
wanted  them,  to  grant  house  lots,  as  well  as  sowing 
or  planting  lots,  within  the  proper  limits,  in  private 
proprietorship,  if  such  applicants  should  be  found  to 
be  suitable  persons,  and  in  need  of  what  was  solicited. 
Like  powers  of  alienation  were  also  retained,  and  often 
exercised  over  the  granting  of  house  lots  and  planting 
grounds  by  the  national  sovereign,  and  by  such  others 
to  whom  such  sovereign  chose  to  delegate  the  author 
ity.  ,  ,  Power,  however,  to  alienate  either  the  lands 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  529 

designed  for  municipal  revenue,  or  the  pleasure 
grounds  of  the  town,  or  the  commons  for  pasturage 
by  its  inhabitants,  never  was  conferred  upon  the 
authorities  of  the  pueblo." 

After  some  further  comments  he  continued :  "From 
all  this  it  manifestly  results  that  the  absolute  title  or 
fee,  with  the  exclusive  power  of  alienation,  in  and  to 
all  the  ungranted  lands  embraced  within  the  claimed 
limits  of  the  pueblo  of  Yerba  Buena  immediately  pre 
vious  to  the  treaty  of  cession  of  May  31, 1848,  remained 
and  was  in  the  Mexican  nation.  Its  rightful  succes 
sor  in  that  behalf,  after  such  treaty,  became  and  was 
the  United  States,  because  the  latter  succeeded  alike 
to  the  national  sovereignty  in  California  as  also  to 
the  fee  of  all  lands  therein,  together  with  the  power 
of  disposition  which  was  at  that  date  vested  in  its 
predecessor."  He  then  referred  to  the  acts  of  con 
gress,  passed  in  1864.  and  1866,  whereby  the  govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  divested  itself  of  the  legal 
title  to  all  the  lands  in  question  so  derived  from  Mex 
ico.  "  In  virtue  of  them,"  he  said,  "all  the  right,  title, 
and  interest  of  the  United  States  passed  to  the  city 
for  the  use  and  upon  the  trusts  in  each  of  them 
respectively  named.  No  further  action  by  the  gov 
ernment  or  its  officers  in  such  case  was  necessary  to 
pass  the  title,  since  such  congressional  grants  passed 
it  as  completely  as  a  United  States  patent." 

In  the  libel  suit  of  Downs  vs.  Fitch,  and  in  McCarty 
vs.  Hayes,  actions  for  slander,  the  judge  displayed  in 
his  charges  to  the  jury  a  clear  and  comprehensive 
grasp  of  the  law  of  libel  as  well  as  of  slander,  and  of 
the  legal  questions  involved.  In  the  case  of  Charlotte 
L.  Brown  vs.  the  Omnibus  Railroad  Company,  he 
delivered  a  most  able  and  elaborate  decision,  explain 
ing  the  principles  of  the  common  law  which  give  to 
colored  persons  the  same  right  to  avail  themselves  of 
public  conveyances  as  is  granted  to  others.  This 
decision  attracted  no  little  attention  throughout  the 
eastern  states,  was  universally  approved  by  the  more 

C,  B.— II.     34 


530  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

enlightened  and  progressive  journals,  and  was  made 
the  subject  of  special  reference,  with  complimentary 
allusions,  by  Charles  Sumner  on  the  floor  of  the 
United  States  senate. 

While  on  the  bench  Judge  Pratt's  demeanor  was 
marked  by  a  firm  and  quiet  dignity,  that  repelled  all 
attempts  at  levity  or  undue  familiarity;  at  the  same 
time  he  won  and  retained  the  respect  and  good-will 
of  the  legal  fraternity.  Among  his  other  qualifica 
tions  was  the  ability  to  turn  in  a  moment  to  any  page 
of  the  testimony  while  trying  a  case,  or  even  while 
rendering  an  oral  decision,  when  any  question  of  fact 
was  disputed  by  counsel;  and  it  came  to  be  generally 
conceded  that  the  judge's  statement  of  the  testimony 
could  be  fully  relied  upon.  Whenever  it  happened 
that  counsel  became  restless  on  hearing  that  the  case 
was  being  decided  against  him,  and  interrupted  the 
judge  by  calling  his  attention  to  a  supposed  mistake 
in  the  citation  of  facts,  the  latter  would  quietly  remark : 
"  The  court  reporter  will  please  turn  to  his  notes  and 
read  the  portion  in  dispute ; "  and  when  that  was  done, 
it  was  found  that  the  judge's  statement  was  absolutely 
correct.  This  became  so  fully  recognized  among  those 
whose  practice  lay  in  his  court  that  when  some  inex 
perienced  attorney  arose,  to  protect,  as  he  thought, 
the  interests  of  his  client,  the  bar  would  quietly  smile, 
in  anticipation  of  the  discomfiture  which  was  to  follow. 
But  perhaps  that  which  won  more  than  all  else  the 
respect  and  admiration  of  its  members  was  the  ease 
with  which  he  reached  the  very  pith  and  marrow  of 
the  subject-matter  before  him,  expressing  his  views 
in  clear,  terse,  and  comprehensive  language,  dissecting 
the  case,  and  presenting  each  portion  of  it  in  the 
clearest  light,  and  thus  giving  form  and  precision  to 
what  was  before  a  collection  of  disjointed  fragments. 

While  as  judge  and  jurist  Mr  Pratt  has  won  for 
himself  a  reputation  second  to  none  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  he  has  also  manifested  in  his  business  transac 
tions  and  in  his  choice  of  investments  qualities  of  no 


QRVILLE  C.  PRATT.  631 

common  order.  Perhaps  one  of  the  best  instances  of 
his  ability  in  this  direction  was  displayed  during  his 
earlier  career  in  Oregon,  when,  by  a  single  well-timed 
stroke,  he  cleared  the  sum  of  $40,000,  and  thus  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  ample  fortune  which  he  has 
since  accumulated.  During  a  trip  from  Portland  to 
San  Francisco  in  company  with  Captain  Crosby,  it 
chan^d  that  a  discussion  arose  as  to  what  would  be 
the  probable  price  of  lumber  on  their  arrival  in  the 
latter  city.  The  judge  suggested  that  a  cargo  should 
be  worth  at  least  twenty-five  dollars  a  thousand.  "I 
wish  you  would  guarantee  me  that  figure."  replied  his 
companion.  "Well,"  rejoined  the  other,  "there  is  no 
reason  why  I  should  guarantee  you  anything,  but  it 
seems  to  me — and  here  he  gave  his  reasons — that  lum 
ber  ought  to  be  worth  there  when  we  arrive  fully 
twenty-five  dollars  a  thousand."  After  some  further 
conversation  Crosby  asked  whether  he  would  purchase 
from  him  the  cargo  on  board  when  laid  down  in  San 
Francisco  at  twenty  dollars  a  thousand.  "Yes,"  said 
Judge  Pratt ;  and  thereupon  a  contract  to  that  effect 
was  drawn  up  and  signed  by  both  parties.  On  reach 
ing  her  destination  the  vessel  was  boarded  by  Captain 
Folsom  and  W.  D.  M.  Howard,  the  former  of  whom, 
as  purchasing  agent  for  the  United  States  govern 
ment,  offered  him  $250  a  thousand  for  the  cargo.  It 
was  declined,  as  was  also  a  still  higher  offer  made  by 
Mr  Howard,  and  the  lumber  was  finally  sold  at  $400 
a  thousand. 

With  a  portion  of  the  profits  he  afterward  built  at 
Oregon  City,  in  partnership  with  one  McLelland,  a 
vessel  which  was  employed  in  the  lumber  trade,  one 
of  her  cargoes  selling  in  San  Francisco  for  $450  a 
thousand.  Another  craft  he  chartered  in  the  same 
city  at  an  early  date,  and  loading  her  with  cooking- 
stoves,  blankets,  and  boots  and  shoes,  he  sailed  for 
Portland,  where,  these  articles  being  scarce  and  in 
demand,  he  disposed  of  the  cargo  at  a  handsome 
profit.  Thus  he  took  advantage  of  opportunities  as 


532  GOVERNMENT-CALIFORNIA. 

they  occurred,  although  his  fortune  was  by  no  means 
of  sudden  growth,  nor  was  it  in  any  sense  gained  by 
the  hazard  of  speculation.  On  the  contrary,  it  was 
acquired  by  judicious  investments,  and  by  years  of 
unremitting  attention  to  his  business  affairs,  while  at 
the  same  time  burdened  with  the  duties  of  his  arduous 
profession. 

Soon  after  his  removal  to  California,  he  invested 
$55,000  in  the  purchase  of  the  Aguas  Frias  rancho, 
consisting  of  six  square  leagues  of  rich  alluvial  lands 
in  Butte  and  Colusa  counties,  and  now  forming  a  most 
valuable  estate.  In  earlier  years  this  rancho  was 
devoted  largely  to  stock-raising,  but  has  long  now 
been  under  cultivation,  mainly  in  wheat.  On  it  are 
nearly  one  hundred  miles  of  fence,  with  suitable  resi 
dences  and  barns  for  tenants,  and  other  improvements. 
Most  of  the  property  still  remains  in  possession  of  the 
judge,  or  of  present  or  former  members  of  his  family, 
and  yields  a  liberal  revenue.  When  he  took  posses 
sion  in  1859  there  were  on  the  tract  many  settlers 
from  the  western  states,  where  holdings  were  usually 
limited  to  160  acres.  By  them  the  owners  of  large 
Mexican  grants  were  regarded  merely  as  usurpers, 
and  they  were  apt  to  settle  upon  any  land  which  they 
found  vacant,  with  little  regard  to  its  real  ownership. 
Hence  arose  serious  difficulties,  and  not  unfrequently 
bloodshed.  But  through  the  kindly  treatment  and 
consideration  which  he  extended  to  the  squatters  no 
such  trouble  occurred  on  Judge  Pratt's  domain,  and 
finally  his  title  and  right  of  possession  were  conceded 
without  dispute. 

In  other  portions  of  California,  and  especially  in 
San  Francisco,  the  judge  has  also  made  investments 
in  real  estate,  among  them  being  the  beautiful  location 
on  which  stands  his  sightly  residence  on  the  south 
east  corner  of  Jones  and  Sutter  streets.  Here,  with 
abundant  means  not  only  to  provide  bountifully  for 
those  who  are  bound  to  him  by  the  ties  of  marriage 
and  consanguinity,  but  also  to  indulge  the  generous 


ORVILLE  C.  PRATT.  533 

impulses  for  which  he  is  universally  noted,  he  lives 
surrounded  by  his  family,  his  home  being  embellished 
by  some  of  the  choicest  specimens  of  art,  and  his 
library  well  supplied  with  standard  works  of  literature. 

In  1877  the  judge  was  married  to  the  daughter  of 
Dr  Green,  a  former  New  York  physician,  a  refined 
and  cultured  lady,  amiable  and  sympathetic,  and  of 
whom  it  need 'hardly  be  said  that  she  is  much  esteemed 
in  the  Pacific  coast  metropolis,  as  well  as  in  New 
York  city,  where  she  was  born  and  reared.  In 
Orville  C.,  their  only  child,  are  reproduced  all  the 
physical  and  mental  characteristics  of  the  father,  and 
of  this  boy,  now  a  youth  of  some  six  summers,  the 
judge  is  deservedly  proud.  In  the  society  of  his 
family  and  his  books  the  later  years  of  his  life  have 
been  passed,  undisturbed  by  the  cares  and  anxieties 
of  business  or  profession.  In  the  mean  time  he  has 
made  an  occasional  trip  to  Europe,  as  like  all  other 
men  with  strong  powers  of  observation,  he  is  fond  of 
travel. 

In  politics  Judge  Pratt  has  always  been  a  staunch 
and  zealous  democrat,  though  never  in  an  intense 
partisan  sense.  On  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war  he 
at  once  declared  his  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  union, 
identifying  himself  with  the  Union  league,  and  con 
tributing  without  stint  to  the  sanitary  and  other 
funds. 

In  religion  he  respects  and  tolerates  all  Christian 
creeds.  A  life  member  of  the  Society  of  California 
Pioneers,  he  subscribes  liberally  and  without  distinc 
tion  to  many  social  and  charitable  organizations  which, 
as  he  considers,  tend  to  the  welfare  of  society.  But 
not  alone  on  these  is  his  bounty  bestowed.  Many 
are  the  instances,  especially  among  his  fellow-pioneers, 
where  he  has  befriended  those  whom  age  or  adversit}7" 
has  overtaken,  though  none  are  probably  aware  of  it, 
save  the  recipients  of  his  charity. 

Now,  in  his  sixty-ninth  year,  but  with  mind  and 
body  little  impaired  by  the  touch  of  time,  the  judge 


534  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

still  displa3rs  all  the  attributes  of  a  vigorous  and  well- 
preserved  manhood.  Somewhat  above  medium  height, 
and  with  a  compact  and  well-developed  frame,  broad- 
shouldered,  and  with  ample  girth  of  chest,  none  but 
those  who  know  him  would  believe  that  he  ranks 
almost  among  our  septuagenarians.  His  upright  car 
riage  and  firm,  elastic  step  belong  rather  to  a  man  of 
half  his  years.  In  his  regular  and  finely  chiselled 
features  are  portrayed  the  strength  of  will  and  firm 
ness  of  purpose,  the  intelligence  and  force  of  concen 
tration,  and,  in  a  word,  the  power  which  has  raised 
him  from  a  comparatively  obscure  position  in  life  to 
a  foremost  place  in  the  community  of  which  he  is  so 
distinguished  a  member.  The  dignity  of  deportment 
which  he  displayed  on  the  bench  is  carried  into  pri 
vate  life,  though  without  a  trace  of  the  coldness  and 
austerity  which  too  often  characterize  our  successful 
men.  As  to  the  part  that  he  has  played  in  the  early 
history  of  Oregon  and  California,  the  reader  will 
judge  for  himself  from  the  biography  which  has  now 
been  laid  before  him.  It  is  of  such  biographies  that, 
in  its  truest  sense,  the  history  of  a  state  or  a  nation 
mainly  consists;  for  apart  from  the  lives  of  our  great 
est  men  there  is  little  worthy  of  record.  On  the  roll 
of  Oregon's  pioneers  are  others  who  have  achieved 
the  highest  honors  on  the  bench,  at  the  bar,  in  the 
marts  of  commerce,  and  in  the  halls  of  legislation; 
but  there  are  none  whose  career  has  been  of  greater 
service  in  laying  broad  and  deep  the  foundation  on 
which  generations  yet  to  be  shall  rear  the  superstruc 
ture  of  a  great  and  flourishing  commonwealth. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

LIFE  OF  JAMES  ANDREW  WAYMIRE. 

ANCESTRY  AND  PARENTAGE — MIGRATION  TO  OREGON  —  EARLY  CAREER — 
MILITARY  RECORD  —  REPORTING — LAW  PRACTISE  INSAH  FRANCISCO — 
SUPERIOR  COURT  JUDGE — THE  VETERANS'  HOME — WIFE  JLSD  CHILDREN 
— RESIDENCE  AT  ALAMEDA — TASTES  AND  PROCLIVITIES. 

As  a  man  thinketh,  so  is  he.  But  what  governs 
the  man's  thinking — his  education,  his  environment  ? 
To  some  extent,  it  must  be  admitted ;  but,  notwith 
standing,  he  is  what  he  was  born,  not  what  he  was 
made.  Scientists  tell  us  his  traits  existed  in  his  very 
atoms — in  the  first  microscopic  cell  in  which  his  visi 
ble  being  began. 

James  Andrew  Waymire  is  descended  from  sturdy 
old  John  Rudolph  Waymire,  of  Saxe- Weimar,  an 
officer  of  rank  in  the  military  service  of  Germany, 
who  about  1732  emigrated  to  America  in  order  to 
enjoy  his  religious  opinions  without  interference  by 
church  or  state.  Landing  in  New  York,  he  finally 
settled  in  North  Carolina,  contributing  to  the  popula 
tion  of  the  new  country  eight  boys  and  seven  girls. 
These  young  Waymires,  after  the  fashion  of  other 
colonist  families,  scattered  through  the  neighboring 
settlements,  some  of  them  finding  homes  in  Pennsyl 
vania,  but  more  of  them  in  Ohio,  near  the  present 
city  of  Dayton,  where  their  descendants  are  found 
in  large  numbers.  Stephen  K.  Waymire,  father  of 
James  A.  Waymire,  was  of  the  Ohio  branch  of  the 
family. 

(535) 


536  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

The  maternal  grandfather  was  James  Gilmore,  a 
Virginian  of  Irish  extraction,  whose  father  fought  in 
the  revolutionary  war.  The  son  also  fought  under 
General  Jackson  at  New  Orleans.  He  married 
Mary  Petit,  of  a  French  Huguenot  family,  and  fol 
lowed  Daniel  Boone  into  that  beautiful  wilderness, 

Where  wild  Ohio's  mighty  flood 

Rolled  through  Kentucky  'a  twilight  wood, 

which  became  the  dark  and  bloody  ground  where 
perished  many  brave  men  and  women.  But  James 
Gilmore  survived  the  pioneer  struggles,  and  afterward 
removed  to  the  frontier  of  Missouri,  where  he  owned 
a  farm  and  a  grist  mill  and  where  his  daughter 
Mahala  E.  Gilmore  met  and  married  Stephen  K. 
Waymire,  a  carpenter  and  farmer,  the  two  settling 
on  160  acres  on  the  Missouri  river,  where  later 
was  St  Joseph,  a  flourishing  city,  covering  the 
Waymire  acres  with  streets  of  solid  business  blocks. 
Here  James  A.  Waymire  was  born  December  9, 
1842.  It  happened  that  the  young  family,  with  their 
relatives  on  both  sides,  were  directly  in  the  path  of 
the  Oregon  pioneers,  who,  with  large  donations  of  land 
in  prospect,  were  marching  westward  annually  to  set 
tle  the  boundary  question  with  Great  Britain  by  act 
ual  occupation  of  the  Columbia  river,  and  to  found  an 
empire  with  a  water-front  toward  China.  Stephen  K. 
Waymire,  and  his  brothers  Frederick  and  John,  with 
their  several  families  joined  the  large  migration  of 
1845  ;  but  Stephen  was  destined  never  to  reach  far 
Oregon,  being  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse  soon 
after  crossino-  the  Missouri  river,  his  widow  and  son 

O  ' 

returning  to  St  Joseph. 

However,  Jarnes  Gilmore,  the  father  of  the  widow, 
in  1852  followed  his  relatives  and  neighbors  to  the 
Pacific  slope,  bringing  with  him  his  daughter  and  her 
son,  together  with  a  large  family  of  sons  and  sons-in- 
law.  The  boy  enjoyed  the  journey,  and  although  but 
ten  years  of  age  kept  a  journal  of  its  events.  His 
grandfather  settled  in  the  Umpqua  valley,  near  Rose- 


JAMES  A.   WAYMIRE.  537 

burg,  with  others  of  the  immigration  of  that  year, 
which  being  of  an  intelligent  class,  soon  erected 
schools  and  churches.  Of  the  former  young  James 
was  a  constant  and  industrious  attendant,  and  the 
long  winter  evenings,  when  the  farm  "  chores"  were 
done,  were  spent  in  the  society  of  such  books  as 
Phttzrch's  Lives,  Pilgrim's  Progress,  the  historical  works 
of  Hume,  Rollins,  and  Gibbon,  and  the  standard 
poets  and  essayists — often  read  late  at  night  by  the 
cheap  but  brilliant  light  of  blazing  pine  knots.  Nor 
was  this  studious  habit  simply  one  of  recreation. 
The  lad  read  with  map  and  note-book  at  his  elbow, 
thoroughly  digesting  what  he  intellectually  devoured. 
At  fourteen  years  of  age  he  wrote  quite  cleverly  both 
prose  and  verse,  and  being  ambitious,  was  unwilling 
any  longer  to  remain  dependent  upon  his  relatives  for 
maintenance. 

His  first  venture  as  a  bread-winner,  at  this  age, 
was  in  chopping  cord-wood,  and  although  not  large 
for  his  years,  at  fifteen  he  performed  the  labors  of 
a  man,  in  the  harvest  field,  or  at  making  rails. 
This  hard  work  did  not  interrupt  the  intellectual 
pursuits  which  were  the  delight  of  the  young  student, 
who  contrived  before  he  was  seventeen  to  acquire  a 
fair  knowledge  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathematics. 
His  habit  of  note-taking  led  him  to  short-hand  writ 
ing,  in  which  he  became  an  expert.  In  the  mean  time 
he  had  acquired  some  personal  property,  which,  in 
consonance  with  his  tastes,  included  a  horse  and  a 
gold  watch.  Before  he  was  eighteen  he  set  up  as 
a  school  teacher  at  fifty  dollars  a  month,  "boarding 
round." 

This  climax  to  youthful  aspiration  was  reached  in 
1860,  which  was  the  year  following  the  admission  of 
Oregon  to  the  union,  and  the  first  in  which  the  Ore 
gon  electors  could  vote  at  a  presidential  election.  For 
this  reason,  but  chiefly  on  account  of  the  agitation  of 
the  question  of  more  slave  territory,  the  canvass  for 
presidential  candidates  was  unusually  warm.  Young 


538  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

Waymire's  uncle  Fred  was  known  as  the  war-horse  of 
democracy  in  the  webfoot  state,  and  the  family  gen 
erally  were  imbued  with  the  political  views  of  the 
men  who  had  fought  under  General  Jackson  at  New 
Orleans,  and  had  an  abiding  horror  of  a  "free  nig 
ger."  But  the  careful  student  had  read  history  to 
little  purpose  if  he  had  not  discovered  that  slavery 
benefited  neither  master  nor  servant ;  and,  although 
not  old  enough  to  vote,  he  was  not  too  young  to  make 
republican  speeches,  which  he  did  with  a  contagious 
zeal.  He  assisted  in  reporting  the  proceedings  of  the 
Oregon  legislature,  at  the  session  which  elected  E.  D. 
Baker  to  the  U.  S.  Senate  and  at  his  suggestion 
began  to  read  law  ;  but  his  heart  was  fixed  on  a 
course  at  Harvard,  for  which  he  must  earn  money 
for  the  attending  expenses;  and  to  this  end  he 
resumed  teaching. 

But  now  occurred  an  interruption.  The  secession 
of  the  southern  states  had  precipitated  the  country 
into  a  civil  war,  and  it  was  a  question  of  the  integrity 
or  dissolution  of  the  union.  On  the  Pacific  coast 
there  was  something  more  to  be  met ;  it  was,  Shall 
there  be  a  separate  Pacific  slave-holding  republic  ? 
To  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  case  required  pluck  as 
well  as  patriotism.  The  people  were  called  together 
in  mass  meetings,  which  were  addressed  by  union 
men,Waymire  taking  the  rostrum  with  older  speakers. 
Then  came  the  news  of  disaster  on  the  bloody  field 
of  Bull  Run,  and  the  ordering  east  of  all  the  regular 
force  on  the  Pacific  coast  except  a  few  officers  left 
to  instruct  volunteers  in  their  duties. 

There  were  at  this  time  numerous  hostile  Indians 
on  the  northern,  eastern,  and  southeastern  frontier  of 
Oregon  and  Washington,  which  had  required  several 
forts  and  garrisons  for  its  protection.  To  leave  this 
vast  extent  of  territory  defenceless  would  be  to  invite 
Indian  as  well  as  foreign  aggression.  A  call  was 
made  for  a  regiment  of  cavalry  to  be  taken  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States.  The  young  men  of 


JAMES  A.   WAYMIRE.  639 

Oregon,  inspired  by  the  hope  of  being  in  their  turn 
called  east  to  fight  the  battles  of  their  country,  cheer 
fully  offered  themselves.  Waymire,  who  might  have 
received  a  commission,  conscious  of  unfitness  for  com 
mand,  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  1st  Oregon  cavalry 
on  his  nineteenth  birthday,  determined  to  learn  sol 
diering  by  actual  experience.  He  was  rapidly  pro 
moted  to  a  second  lieutenantcy,  and  had  enough  of 
marching  and  fighting  to  stimulate  him  to  a  study  of 
arms  as  a  profession,  which  study  he  prosecuted, 
together  with  the  law,  during  the  winter  of  1862  at 
Walla  Walla  and  1863  while  stationed  at  The  Dalles 
as  adjutant  of  the  command.  By  a  vigorous  campaign 
during  the  winter  of  1863—4,  in  which  he  was  aided  by 
a  company  of  miners  under  the  lead  of  Joaquin  Miller, 
afterwards  famous  as  the  "  Poet  of  the  Sierras,"  he 
pointed  out  the  way  to  conquer  a  lasting  peace  with 
the  Indians  of  southeastern  Oregon.  This  pioneer 
winter  campaign  in  which  the  Indians  were  forced  to 
make  a.  stand  and  after  a  long  and  hotly  contested 
fight  were  defeated,  though  outnumbering  the  whites 
ten  to  one,  demonstrated  that  in  winter  the  Indians 
could  not  escape  our  troops,  and  thereafter  the 
policy  which  proved  successful  under  General  Crook 
was  adopted,  of  attacking  them  in  winter.  For  these 
services  he  was  complimented  in  general  orders  by 
General  Benjamin  Alvord,  the  commanding  officer.  In 
1864  Lieutenant  Waymire  assisted,  at  the  request  of 
Governor  Gibbs,  in  organizing  a  regiment  of  infantry. 
After  the  fate  of  secession  had  been  determined  by 
the  fall  of  Atlanta,  he  resigned  and  resumed  his 
law  studies,  at  the  same  time  acting  as  private  sec 
retary  to  Governor  Gibbs.  In  1867  he  was  tendered 
a  commission  as  second  lieutenant  in  the  regular 
army,  and  believing  that  an  increase  in  the  service 
gave  promise  of  rapid  promotion,  accepted,  passed 
a  highly  creditable  examination,  and  was  assigned 
to  duty  as  quartermaster  and  commissary  at  Camp 
Lyon,  Idaho,  General  Crook  being  in  command  of  the 


540  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

district.  By  close  attention  to  his  duties  he  greatly 
reduced  the  expenses  of  the  garrison.  In  1869  he 
was  promoted  to  first  lieutenant ;  but,  finding  that  con 
gress  was  reducing  the  army,  cutting  off  any  reason 
able  hope  of  reaching  the  desired  rank  short  of  a 
lifetime,  he  resigned,  and  continued  the  study  of  the 
law  without  interruption  except  to  act  as  reporter 
for  the  Sacramento  Union  in  the  state  senate  of 
California  during  the  winter  of  1869.  In  1870  he 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  by  the  supreme  court  of 
Oregon,  and  commenced  practice  in  Salem ;  but  in 
1871-2  again  consented  to  act  as  reporter  for  the 
Union ;  and,  as  this  was  the  session  when  the  codes 
were  adopted,  he  became  familiar  with  them,  as  well 
as  acquainted  with  leading  lawyers  and  other  chief  men 
of  California,  which  led  to  a  resolve  to  practise  law  in 
this  state.  In  May  1872,  the  California  supreme  court 
appointed  him  phonographic  reporter  of  its  proceed 
ings,  which  position  he  held  for  three  years.  This 
also  was  instructive  practice.  From  his  notes  and 
the  records  he  analyzed  arguments  and  prepared 
reports  of  all  the  cases  decided,  which  were  subse 
quently  embodied  in  volumes  41  to  49  of  the  supreme 
court  reports. 

In  1875  Mr  Waymire  resigned  his  office  of  reporter 
and  commenced  the  practice  of  law  in  San  Francisco, 
to  which  city  he  had  removed  the  previous  year. 
His  industry,  thoroughness,  and  integrity  soon  won 
him  the  respect  of  a  bar  as  brilliant  as  any  city  of 
its  population  can  boast,  and  his  practice  embraced 
a  wide  range  of  legal  propositions.  In  1877  he  was 
employed  by  General  Meyers,consul-general  to  Shang 
hai,  to  prepare  charges  against  George  F.  Seward,  min 
ister  to  China,  Seward  having  procured  the  suspension 
from  office  of  the  consul-general  for  having  reported 
certain  irregularities  in  office.  Mr  Waymire  exam 
ined  the  evidence,  which  was  chiefly  documentary 
and  very  voluminous,  and  prepared  a  brief,  which 
Meyers  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  distinguished  Sen- 


JAMES  A.    WAYMIRE.  541 

ator  Matthew  Carpenter  and  Robert  Ingersoll,  to 
prosecute  before  congress.  The  result,  after  a  tedi 
ous  contest,  was  the  recall  of  Seward  and  the  aban 
donment  of  the  impeachment  proceedings. 

A  case  in  which  Mr  Way  mire  was  engaged,  that 
of  Barton  vs  Kalloch,  involved  the  construction  of 
the  constitution  as  to  the  time  of  holding  elections. 
Other  important  cases  in  his  practice  were  that  of 
the  People  vs  Houghton,  in  which  the  supreme  court 
declared  a  swamp  land  act  to  be  unconstitutional ; 
that  of  Mohrenhaut  vs  Bell,  which  involved  the  title 
to  26,000  acres  of  land  in  Sonoma  county ;  that  of  the 
South  Mountain  consolidated  mining  company,  in 
which  he  represented  the  creditors  in  an  application 
for  an  assessment  of  $300,000  on  the  stockholders ; 
that  of  the  People  vs  Parks,  in  which  the  drainage 
act  was  declared  to  be  unconstitutional,  and  nearly  a 
million  dollars  saved  to  the  state ;  that  of  the  San 
Francisco  gaslight  company  vs  Dunn,  in  which  the 
city's  contract  with  that  company  was  declared  void; 
and  that  of  the  Pioneer  woolen  factory  vs  Dunn, 
which  involved  the  validity  of  the  Bay  ley  ordinance, 
providing  for  the  annual  payment  of  a  large  sum  for 
water  by  the  city.  Of  these  cases,  the  People  vs 
Parks  is  the  most  notable.  A  law  had  been  passed 
by  the  legislature,  levying  a  tax  of  five  cents  on  the 
$100,  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  dams  to  inter 
rupt  the  flow  of  debris  from  the  mines  worked  by 
hydraulic  power.  It  was  sought,  at  a  subsequent 
session,  to  repeal  this  law,  but  without  success.  It 
was  then  several  times  attempted  to  get  the  question 
of  its  constitutionality  before  the  supreme  court, 
but  the  effort  failed  on  questions  of  practice,  until 
at  last  the  question  was  squarely  presented  in  the  case 
above  quoted,  when  the  court  declared  the  act  uncon 
stitutional  upon  a  point  raised  by  Waymire  that  the 
act,  in  attempting  to  confer  upon  executive  officers  the 
power  to  form  drainage  districts,  involved  a  delegation 
of  legislative  functions,  and  was  therefore  void.  The 

^5  ' 


542  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

debris  question  in  its  different  forms  was  one  which 
concerned  the  agriculturists  of  the  state  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  owners  of  hydraulic  mines,  and  was 
hotly  contested  in  the  legislature  during  several 
sessions  while  waiting  for  the  opinion  of  the  supreme 
court,  which  happily  cut  the  Gordian  knot,  and 
relieved  the  agricultural  people,  not  only  from  a 
tax  in  the  interest  of  mining,  but  from  the  fear  of 
ruin  through  the  filling  up  of  the  beds  of  rivers, 
and  the  prospective  loss  of  their  lands  by  consequent 
overflow  and  deposits  of  worthless  earth. 

In  October  1881,  Mr  Waymire  was  appointed  by 
Governor  Perkins  to  fill  a  vacancy  on  the  bench  of 
the  superior  court  of  San  Francisco.  Among  the 
marked  characteristics  of  his  judicial  career  was  the 
patience  with  which  he  examined  evidence  and  heard 
arguments  ;  his  power  of  analysis  and  skill  in  the 
application  of  legal  principles.  In  little  more  than 
a  year  on  the  bench,  he  rendered  over  1,100  decisions, 
in  many  of  which  he  prepared  written  opinions.  Of 
the  numerous  important  cases  tried  by  him  only 
thirty  were  appealed  and  of  these  but  three  were 
sustained.  The  bar  of  San  Francisco  were  anxious  to 
have  him  retained  upon  the  bench  by  election  at 
the  close  of  the  term  for  which  he  was  appointed, 
and  he  was  nominated  by  both  factions  ot  a  divided 
republican  party,  but  beaten  by  a  small  majority, 
in  consequence  of  the  agitation  of  a  Sunday  law, 
to  which  the  German  population  of  either  party 
were  opposed,  causing  them  to  vote  solidly  with  the 
democrats.  Although  defeated,  he  received  the  high 
est  vote  of  all  the  republican  candidates,  running 
3,000  ahead  of  the  party  candidate  for  governor. 

The  reputation  achieved  upon  the  bench  greatly 
increased  his  legal  business  on  returning  to  practice. 
Among  the  cases  on  which  he  was  engaged  were  the 
so-called  railroad-tax  suits,  one  hundred  of  which  had 
been  brought  by  the  district  attorneys  in  thirty -three 
counties  of  the  state,  against  the  Central  and  South- 


JAMES  A.   WAYMIRE.  543 

• 

ern  Pacific  companies,  the  aggregate  amount  claimed 
being  over  a  million  dollars.  The  suits  were,  on 
motion  of  the  defendants,  transferred  to  the  United 
States  circuit  court  at  San  Francisco,  upon  the  ground 
that  they  involved  questions  arising  under  the  federal 
constitution.  The  state  controller  engaged  Judge 
Way  mire  to  assist  the  attorney -general  in  pressing 
these  suits  to  judgment.  The  state  lost  in  the  circuit 
court,  but  the  attorneys  sued  out  writs  of  error  to  the 
supreme  court  of  the  United  States,  and  before  that 
tribunal  decided  the  questions  involved,  by  negotia 
tions  with  the  defendants,  succeeded  in  collecting 
$800,000,  which,  with  $200,000  paid  after  the  suits 
were  begmn,  brought  about  a  million  dollars  into  the 

n          7  o  , 

coffers  of  the  state. 

In  the  case  of  Shultz  vs  McLean,  before  the 
superior  court  of  San  Luis  Obispo  county,  Judge 
Waymire  was  of  counsel  for  the  plaintiff  in  a  case 
involving  22,000  acres  of  land.  The  complaint  alleged 
fraud  in  obtaining  a  deed  ;  and,  although  such  a  case 
is  most  difficult  to  win,  the  judgment  rendered  was  in 
favor  of  their  client.  In  many  other  important  cases, 
such  as  Ryer  vs  Ryer,  a  divorce  case  involving  more 
than  a  million  of  dollars;  United  Land  Association 
vs  Knight,  concerning  the  Mission  creek  lands ; 
Moore  vs  Hopkins,  where  the  plaintiff  recovered  a 
verdict  for  $75,000  for  breach  of  a  promise  of  marriage 
— Mr  Waymire  was  engaged. 

The  lesson  of  these  successes  in  an  arduous  and 
exacting  profession  is  one  of  honest,  steadfast  pur 
pose.  United  to  great  abilities,  this  makes  all  things 
possible ;  without  it,  the  highest  intellect  is  but  a 
fire-fly  torch,  uncertain  and  misleading.  As  Judge 
Waymire  is  still  on  the  hither  side  of  fifty,  he  may 
reasonably  hope  to  attain  to  greater  eminence  in  his 
profession,  or  in  the  world  of  letters,  where,  had  he 
the  leisure,  he  would  be  glad  to  enter  the  lists  for  a 
prize.  Having  already  acquired  a  comfortable  for 
tune,  this  would  be  an  intellectual  pastime ;  but 


544  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

men  who  have  shown  themselves  useful  in  any  pro 
fession  can  hardly  escape  the  solicitations  of  those 
who  would  profit  by  their  services.  That  he  has 
fully  weighed  the  comparative  value  of  legal  and 
literary  fame  may  be  inferred  from  the  following 
words  contained  in  an  address  delivered  in  1873,  on 
memorial  day,  at  Sacramento  :  "In  the  free  press, 
upon  which  the  people  depend  so  largely  for  informa 
tion  and  counsel,  and  especially  in  the  popular  forum, 
where  the  great  controlling  power  we  call  public 
opinion  is  concentrated  and  directed  to  some  special 
purpose,  sentiment,  feeling,  all  the  hidden  springs  by 
which  men  are  moved  to  action,  are  called  into  play. 

...  A  learned  judge,  who  for  a  score  of  years  has 
been  a  student  of  legal  lore,  gives  days  and  weeks, 
and  even  months  to  the  investigation  of  some  knotty 
question  of  law  affecting  vital  interests  of  the  public  ; 
and  at  length  his  opinion  clear,  compact,  fit  to  stand 
as  an  opinion  for  all  time,  is  announced ;  but  it 
attracts  the  attention  of  a  small  audience  only,  even 
in  the  community  it  most  concerns." 

He  has  done  some  vigorous  writing  for  the  leading 
newspapers  of  Oregon  and  California  upon  political 
and  other  topics.  In  1875—6  a  series  of  articles  from 
his  pen,  published  editorially  in  the  San  Francisco 
Chronicle,  awakened  a  strong  sentiment  against  stock- 
gambling,  and  at  the  request  of  Governor  Irwin  he 
prepared  a  bill  to  remedy  the  evils  thereof.  The  bill 
was  introduced  in  the  assembly  and  passed  that  body 
but  was  defeated  in  the  senate  by  the  united  efforts 
of  the  stock-brokers  and  others  interested  in  main 
taining  the  old  methods.  Many  of  the  features  of 
the  bill  subsequently  Became  law. 

Judge  Waymire's  leaning  toward  military  life,  a 
trait  derived  no  doubt  from  his  great-great-grand- 
sire,  John  Rudolph,  the  immigrant,  appears  in  his 
patriotism  and  in  his  affection  for  old  soldiers.  It 
was  at  his  suggestion  that  the  federal  government 
was  memorialized  to  establish  a  branch  of  the  national 


JAMES  A.  WAYMIRE.  545 

oldier's  home  on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  he  was 
appointed,  being  a  member  of  the  Grand  Army  of 
the  Republic  and  Veterans'  Home  association,  to  urge 
the  enactment  of  a  law  to  that  end.  Only  after  years 
of  correspondence  with  the  board  of  managers,  and 
with  senators  and  representatives  in  congress,  were 
his  efforts  finally  crowned  with  success,  an  appro 
priation  of  $150,000  being  granted  to  erect  a  branch 
home,  and  in  November  1887  a  site  near  Santa 
Monica  was  selected,  where  buildings  were  erected  to 
accommodate  2,000  inmates.  In  March  1884  he  was 
chosen  a  director  of  the  Veterans'  Home  association, 
which  maintained,  at  Yountville,  a  retreat  for  disa 
bled  soldiers ;  in  1886  was  elected  president,  and  has 
since  been  four  times  re-elected.  Under  his  admini 
stration  the  institution  has  been  built  up  into  a  model 
soldier's  home.  He  was  sent  as  a  delegate  to  the 
national  encampment  of  the  grand  army  held  at 
Portland,  Maine  in  1885.  His  report  of  the  transac 
tions  of  the  Veterans'  home  association,  made  to  the 
governor  of  the  state  in  1887,  contains  its  history 
from  the  beginning. 

He  has  never  affiliated  with  the  baser  sort  in  any 
rank  of  life.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  1st  Oregon 
cavalry,  to  which  he  gave  so  much  enthusiastic  ser 
vice,  was  known  as  the  puritan  regiment,  and  to  the 
puritans  in  morals  he  still  belongs,  although  as  liberal 
and  broad  in  his  opinions  and  sympathies  as  a  just 
man  should  be. 

Judge  Waymire  is  5  feet  and  8  inches  in  height, 
full  chested  and  rather  stout ;  has  blue  eyes  and  regu 
lar  features,  with  a  fresh,  almost  boyish,  complexion, 
a  soft  voice  and  a  kindly  manner.  He  was  married 
on  June  22,  1865,  to  Miss  Virginia  Ann  Chrisman,  a 
native  of  Missouri,  and  like  her  husband  of  German 
ancestry.  Mrs  Waymire  is  one  of  the  notable  house 
wives  and  mothers  of  California.  Judge  Waymire's 
eldest  daughter  Maud  has  inherited  both  her  father's 
taste  for  literature  and  history  and  her  mother's 


C.  B.— II.    35 


546  GOVERNMENT— CALIFORNIA. 

devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  home  circle  ;  Charles, 
the  eldest  son,  has  an  unusually  fine  physique  and  a 
talent  for  mathematics ;  Edna,  the  second  daughter, 
is  a  bright  little  girl  who  always  ranks  high  in 
her  classes,  while  Rudolf,  the  pet  of  the  family  has 
not  yet  reached  the  age  when  right  and  wrong  or 
indolence  and  industry  mean  anything  to  his  baby 
mind.  No  sketch  of  Judge  Waymire  would  be  com 
plete  that  did  not  take  cognizance  of  his  sentiments 
and  aspirations  as  a  family  man.  He  has  the  German 
love  of  the  soil  and  of  a  home.  He  is  one  of  the  few 
fathers  in  this  generation  who  takes  a  personal  interest 
in  the  instruction  of  his  children.  Although  not  what 
is  termed  a  society  man,  he  is  fond  of  gathering  his 
friends  at  his  own  fireside,  to  whom  he  is  a  frank  and 
generous  host. 

It  was  his  good  fortune  to  make  some  profitable 
investments  in  San  Francisco  property  about  1884  ; 
but  preferring  a  residence  in  a  suburban  town,  he 
purchased  several  acres  in  Alameda  upon  which  he 
has  expended  a  large  amount  in  creating  an  ideal 
suburban  home,  where  the  eye  looks  out  upon  grounds 
beautiful  with  oaks,  to  which  cling  garlands  of  ivy, 
while  the  lawn  beneath  is  dotted  with  daisies,  and  the 
walks  lined  with  flowering;  shrubs  and  trees  from  all 

o 

climes  contentedly  mingle  their  foliage,  as  if  they 
knew  that  their  master  hated  the  axe,  and  counted 
among  them  many  a  leafy  friend.  He  is  specially 
fond  of  the  palm  tree  of  which  he  has  many  vari 
eties  so  grouped  among  accacias,  bamboos,  aracarias, 
bananas,  and  other  tropical  plants  of  the  hardier  sort 
as  to  form  a  landscape  seldom  found  north  of  the 
equator.  Here,  during  the  day,  families  of  quail 
roam  without  fear,  hundreds  of  feathered  songsters 
make  their  homes,  and  at  night  the  owl  hunts  for 
the  gopher  and  the  mole  as  if  he  were  part  of  the 
family. 


CHAPTER  X. 

GOVERNMENT  AFFAIRS  IN  OREGON. 

RELIGIOUS  SECTS  AS  COLONISTS — METHODISTS,  PRESBYTERIANS,  AND  CATH 
OLICS —  JOHN  McLouoHLiN  AND  THE  HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY — THE 
BOUNDARY  QUESTION — MISSIONARIES  AS  MERCHANTS — LAND  CLAIMS — 
INDIAN  TROUBLES — MILITARY  MATTERS — PROVISIONAL  GOVERNMENT — 
POLITICS— JUDICIAL  AFFAIRS — OREGON  AS  A  TERRITORY  AND  AS  A 
STATE—  PROMINENT  OFFICIALS. 

PIETY,  patriotism,  and  jealousy,  presently  blending 
and  bowing  before  avarice,  were  the  primary  factors 
in  the  colonization  and  occupation  of  the  Oregon 
country  south  of  the  49th  parallel.  The  piety  was, 
for  the  most  part,  of  the  rnethodist  persuasion,  in 
tent  on  converting  the  savages  to  the  same  thinking; 
the  patriotism  and  jealousy  took  the  form  of  a  strong 
desire  for  the  Americanization  of  Oregon,  so  that  the 
English  might  not  get  control  of  the  country;  the 
avarice  was  of  a  somewhat  mild  form,  being  simply  a 
greater  desire  for  lands  and  other  temporal  benefits 
than  for  purely  spiritual  blessings. 

Following  the  trading  adventures  to  Oregon  of 
Kelley  and  Wyeth,  came  four  Flathead  chiefs  to  St. 
Louis,  askincr  for  missionaries  to  their  benighted  land. 

9  O  <~J 

Two  personages  presently  appeared  before  the  metho- 
dist  board  and  offered  their  services.  They  were 
Jason  Lee  and  his  nephew  Daniel  Lee,  the  former 
having  been  engaged  in  similar  labors  in  the  British 
provinces.  Their  offer  was  accepted;  and  Jason, 
made  a  member  of  the  methodist  conference,  was 
ordained  an  elder.  This  was  in  1833. 

(547) 


548  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

Jason  Lee  was  from  Stanstead,  Canada,  and  at  that 
time  about  thirty  years  of  age.  He  was  tall  and 
powerfully  built,  with  an  iron  constitution  and  un 
blemished  manhood.  Sincere  and  sound  in  his  prin 
ciples  after  the  manner  of  his  enlightenment;  frank 
and  affable  in  his  intercourse  with  men,  he  inspired 
respect  and  grew  in  the  confidence  of  his  associates. 
If  he  lacked  somewhat  in  refinement,  it  may  be  said 
that  his  brusque  straight-forwardness  was  but  simple 
honesty,  unalloyed  with  clerical  cant. 

His  nephew  was  not  cast  in  the  same  mould.  Thin 
and  bony  in  form,  he  presented  a  strong  contrast  to 
the  powerful  frame  of  Jason,  while  in  mental  capabili 
ties  a  corresponding  difference  existed  between  them. 
Though  a  man  in  stature,  Daniel  was  a  child  in  mind 
and  manners  ;  but  of  his  lack  of  knowledge,  especially 
that  of  the  world,  he  lived  in  happy  unconsciousness. 

On  October  10,  1833,  a  missionary  meeting  was  held 
in  New  York  to  arrange  for  the  early  departure  of  the 
volunteers,  and  by  the  end  of  November  everything 
was  in  readiness,  $3,000  having  been  voted  by  the 
board  to  defray  the  expenses  of  their  outfit.  At  this 
juncture  Nathaniel  J.  Wyeth  arrived  at  Boston,  having 
returned  from  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  establish  a 
trading-post  on  the  Columbia  river.  Wyeth  was  of 
Cambridge,  Massachusetts — an  enterprising  young 
man  of  ardent  temperament,  who,  excited  by  the 
writings  of  Hall  J.  Kelley,  conceived  the  design  of 
journeying  overland  and  planting  an  American  colony 
in  Oregon. 

Leaving  New  York  in  March  1834,  the  Lees  pro 
ceeded  westward,  accompanied  by  three  associates- 
Cyrus  Shephard  of  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  Philip  L. 
Edwards,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  Courtney  M. 
Walker  of  Richmond,  Missouri,  who  had  been  en 
gaged  to  assist  for  one  year  in  founding  the  mission. 
At  Independence,  their  rendezvous,  they  found 
Wyeth,  and  on  April  28th  the  expedition,  numbering 
in  all  seventy  men,  started  on  its  journey.  On  Sep- 


OCCUPATION  AND  SETTLEMENT.  549 

tember  16th  the  missionary  party  arrived  at  Fort 
Vancouver,  Jason  Lee  having  gone  in  advance  of  the 
others. 

The  initiatory  steps  toward  settlement  had  already 
been  taken  in  the  Willamette  valley  by  French 
Canadians,  who,  when  the  terms  of  their  contracts 
with  the  Hudson's  Bay  company  had  expired,  were 
allowed  to  settle  on  the  choice  lands  of  the  valley, 
and  thither  went  the  Lees.  The  place  was  known  as 
French  prairie,  a  lovely  region,  whose  grassy  mead 
ows  were  watered  by  numerous  streams,  and  dotted 
with  groves  of  oak  and  fir,  cottonwood  and  white 
maple.  And  here,  at  its  southern  extremity,  the 
methodist  mission  was  established,  Lee  having  been 
B-o  advised  by  McLoughlin,  chief  in  these  parts 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  company.  Every  Sunday  a 
sermon  was  preached  at  the  house  of  Joseph 
Gervais,  where,  also,  a  sabbath-school  was  opened, 
but  no  progress  was  made  in  converting  the  na 
tives. 

Late  in  October  1834  Kelley  and  Ewing  Young 
arrived  with  a  party  from  California.  Born  at  Gil- 
manton,  New  Hampshire,  in  1879,  Kelley  had  grad 
uated  at  Middlebury,  Connecticut,  and  afterward  at 
Harvard  university.  As  early  as  1815  he  began  his 
agitation  of  the  Oregon  question,  and  in  1824  gave 
himself  wholly  up  to  the  work.  By  gathering  in 
formation  and  spreading  it  among  the  people  he  did 
more  than  any  other  man  to  keep  alive  in  the  public 
mind  a  deep  feeling  of  interest  in  Oregon.  He  was 
an  enthusiast  in  the  matter,  making  maps,  forming 
plans,  and  petitioning  congress  for  aid.  He  organized 
a  land  expedition,  which  was  to  have  started  in  1828, 
but  was  afterward  abandoned ;  he  next  attempted  to 
form  one  to  proceed  by  water  in  1832,  but  again  he 
failed.  Kelley  then  determined  at  all  hazards  to  visit 
Oregon,  and  with  a  few  companions  set  forth  in  1833, 
selecting  the  circuitous  route  through  Mexico.  At 
Vera  Cruz,  whither  he  arrived  alone,  his  party  having 


550  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

separated  from  him,  he  was  robbed,  and  suffered  many 
hardships,  but  was  not  deterred  from  his  design. 
Reaching  California,  he  became  acquainted  at  San 
Diego  with  Ewing  Young,  a  cabinet-maker  by  trade, 
but  trapper,  hunter,  and  adventurer  by  preference, 
and  together  they  proceeded  to  Oregon.  Young  was 
a  native  of  Knox  county,  Tennessee,  and  a  man  of 
intelligence,  possessed  of  great  nerve-power,  a  grand 
physique,  and  that  restless  disposition  which  impels 
men  to  adventure. 

Kelley  and  Jason  Lee  met  in  conference  several 
times,  but  the  latter  had  plans  of  his  own,  and  Kelley 
was  soon  left  to  brood  in  solitude  over  the  failure  of 
his  project  for  forming  an  ideal  American  settlement. 
In  1835  he  returned  to  Boston,  where  he  published  a 
pamphlet  setting  forth  the  hardships  and  injustice  in 
flicted  on  American  settlers  by  the  exclusiveness  of 
the  British  fur  company,  which  put  in  force  most  ar 
bitrary  measures  to  drive  awray  those  who  would  not 
submit  to  its  domination. 

In  view  of  these  charges,  the  government  instructed 
William  A.  Slacum,  connected  with  the  naval  ser 
vice,  to  visit  Oregon,  ascertain  the  truth  of  Kelley 's 
story,  and  collect  all  political,  physical,  and  geopraph- 
ical  information  that  might  prove  useful.  Slacum  ar 
rived  in  December  1836,  and  reached  Fort  Vancouver 
January  2,  1837,  where  he  was  hospitably  received. 
McLoughlin  was  informed  by  his  visitor  that  he  was 
a  member  of  a  private  expedition  in  search  of  informa 
tion  respecting  the  country  But  the  chief- factor  was 
not  deceived  ;  he  recognized  in  the  man  an  agent  of 
the  United  States  government,  and  knew  that  all 
that  was  seen  and  heard  would  be  reported  to  it.  He 
deemed  it  expedient,  therefore,  to  make  a  full  state 
ment  in  regard  to  all  matters  at  issue.  After  visiting 
the  mission  and  settlers  in  the  Willamette  valley, 
Slacum  took  his  departure,  while  Young  attempted 
to  establish  a  distillery  to  prevent  which  the  mis 
sionaries  organized  a  temperance  society. 


MORE  MISSIONARIES,  551 

In  the  work  of  occupying  Oregon  the  methodists 
were  followed  by  the  presbyterians,  of  whom  Samuel 
Parker  of  Ithaca,  New  York,  and  Marcus  Whitman 
were  leaders.  Parker  was  a  man  of  intelligence  and 

O 

refinement,  of  somewhat  precise  and  solemn  deport 
ment,  but  sincere  and  courageous.  He  was  older  than 
Whitman,  and  of  a  lively  disposition,  outspoken,  and 
of  easy  manners.  Prompt,  energetic,  and  brave,  yet 
kind  withal,  he  was  well  fitted  to  be  the  pioneer  of 
missionary  enterprise,  his  sinewy  frame  and  vigorous 
constitution  rendering  him  capable  of  enduring  hard 
ships.  He  was  a  native  of  Rushville,  New  York. 

Parker  made  a  journey  to  Fort  Vancouver  and 
the  Nez  Perce  country,  and  returned  east.  Whitman, 
in  company  with  H.  H.  Spaulding,  a  plain,  practical 
man,  but  full  of  zeal,  both  of  them  missionaries,  and 
accompanied  by  their  wives,  proceeded  in  1836  to 
Waiilatpu,  Whitman  taking  up  his  residence  in  a 
house  which  Parker  had  built,  while  Spaulding  lo 
cated  himself  in  the  Lapwai  valley.  Among  other 
missionaries  entering  early  the  Oregon  territory  were 
W.  H.  Gray,  Elkinah  Walker,  and  Gushing  C.  Eells. 

The  Willamette  mission  of  the  methodists  was 
reenforced  in  1837  by  a  party  of  eight  from  Boston, 
conspicuous  among  whom  was  Elijah  White,  doctor, 
just  past  thirty  years  of  age,  of  a  sight,  elastic  frame, 
and  slippery  tongue  and  conscience.  Next  was  Alan- 
son  Beers,  a  blacksmith,  a  stout,  strong  man  of  dark 
complexion,  homely  disposition,  and  rigid  honesty.  In 
marked  contrast  to  him  was  W.  H.  Willson,  ship-car 
penter,  a  tall,  well-built  man,  of  cheerful  and  affection, 
ate  disposition,  kind  to  children  and  animals,  ever 
ready  to  entertain  his  listeners  with  strange  sea- 
stories,  some  parts  of  which  were  true.  Other  pio 
neers  were  Anna  Maria  Pitman,  who  married  Jason 
Lee,  a  tall,  dark-hued  woman,  with  some  poetic  tal* 
ent,  fervently  pious  and  enthusiastic  ;  Susan  Downr 
ing,  who  married  Cyrus  Shepard ;  and  Miss  Johnson, 
a  pure-minded,  estimable  damsel,  zealously  devoted  to 


552  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

her  duty.  Charles  J.  Roe  was  also  married  to  Nancy 
McKay.  These  were  the  first  marriages  solemnized 
in  the  Willamette  valley  by  church  rites.  Very 
shortly  after  this  event  a  second  reenforcement  ar 
rived  from  Boston,  and  the  population  at  the  Willam 
ette  mission  now  numbered  sixty  persons,  nearly 
equally  divided  between  natives  and  white  settlers. 
In  March  1838  Daniel  Lee  with  H.  K.  W.  Perkins, 
one  of  the  last  comers,  established  a  mission  near  the 
Dalles,  at  a  point  on  which  Gray  had  endeavored  to 
persuade  Whitman  to  plant  a  presbyterian  mission. 

Jason  Lee  must  now  be  regarded  more  as  an 
American  colonizer  than  as  a  missionary.  He  had 
been  unsuccessful  in  his  efforts  to  gather  the  savages 
into  his  fold,  and  like  a  sensible  man,  he  turned  his 
attention  to  business.  He  conceived  the  idea  of 
founding  a  methodist  state,  whatever  that  may  be, 
and  in  1837-8  went  east  to  obtain  men  and  means. 
He  gave  lectures  on  Oregon,  and  importuned  congress, 
until,  finally,  a  vessel  was  freighted,  partly  by  the  aid 
of  government,  and  partly  from  the  gifts  of  Sunday- 
schojl  children  and  sewing  societies.  Not  long  after 
ward  a  mission  was  established  among  the  Clatsops, 
and  one  near  Fort  Nisqually. 

Meanwhile  Jason  Lee,  recognizing  that  French 
prairie  was  not  the  best  place  in  which  to  plant 
American  institutions,  selected  a  large  and  fertile 
plain,  ten  miles  south  of  the  original  location,  and 
called  by  the  natives  Chemeketa,  that  is  to  say, 
Here  we  rest.  The  place  was  well  supplied  with 
timber  and  water-power,  and  on  his  return  from  the 
east  Lee  proceeded  to  remove  his  people  thither. 
Between  2,000  and  3,000  acres  were  selected  and  a 
grist  and  saw-mill  erected. 

After  starting  this  new  settlement,  Lee,  one  of  the 
brethren,  and  Hines,  explored  the  Umpqua  country, 
but  found  no  inducement  to  plant  a  mission  therein. 
On  their  return  a  misunderstanding  arose  between 
Lee  and  White,  the  latter  having  caused  more  money 


LEE  AND  McLOUGHLIN.  553 

to  be  expended  in  the  erection  of  a  hospital  than  was 
approved  of  by  Lee.  White  resigned  and  went  home, 
where  his  representations  to  the  board  created  an 
unfavorable  impression  with  regard  to  Lee,  whose 
course  was  likewise  criticized  by  some  of  his  own 
people.  In  fact,  there  was  a  foolish  quarrel  among 
the  worthy  missionaries. 

Meantime  Jason  Lee  continued  to .  mature  his 
plans  for  the  founding  of  a  methodist  state.  A  build 
ing  was  erected  on  the  Chemeketa  plain,  at  an  ex 
pense  of  $10,000;  the  Oregon  institute  was  organized, 
for  the  education  of  white  children,  and  a  building 
constructed,  at  a  cost  of  $3,000,  three  miles  to  the 
north. 

But  there  was  a  scheme  in  which  the  methodist 
superintendent  was,  perhaps,  still  more  deeply  inter 
ested,  and  that  was  the  acquisition  of  the  water-power 
at  the  falls  of  the  Willamette.  John  McLoughlin 
held  the  property,  as  was  well  known,  having  taken 
possession  of  it  in  1829;  and  as  no  settlement  of 
boundary  had  been  arrived  at,  he  could  maintain  his 
right.  He  had  already  made  improvements  by  the 
erection  of  several  houses  and  the  construction  of  a 
inill-race.  This,  however,  did  not  prevent  the  mis 
sionaries  from  finally  securing  a  large  share,  after 
lengthy  and  bitter  quarrels,  during  which  were  forgot 
ten  all  the  chief- factor's  many  deeds  of  kindness 
toward  the  very  men  who  now  repaid  him  with  wrong 
and  injustice. 

In  the  autumn  of  1843  the  first  large  overland  im 
migration  of  families  arrived.  In  mission  affairs  Lee 
was  superseded  by  George  Gary,  who  had  been  sent 
out  to  investigate  the  conduct  of  the  brethren.  Two 
years  later  the  former  died  in  Canada.  The  latter 
reached  Oregon  city,  June  1,  1844,  and  a  meeting  of 
the  missionaries  was  held  on  the  7th  at  Chemeketa. 
After  a  long  consultation  it  was  decided  to  dissolve 
the  mission.  All  the  property,  consisting  of  houses, 
farms,  farming  implements,  cattle,  mills,  and  goods  of 


554  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

every  description  at  Chemeketa,  French  prairie,  and 
Clatsop,  was  sold.  Some  of  the  immigrants  would 
have  been  glad  to  purchase,  but  it  was  all  secured  by 
the  missionaries.  Hamilton  Campbell  was  allowed 
to  buy  all  the  mission  herds  on  long  credit,  and  George 
Abernethy  obtained  possession  of  the  mission  store. 
Houses  and  farms  were  disposed  of  to  the  amount  of 
$26,000,  less  than  half  the  original  cost. 

The  methodist  missions  in  Oregon  were  now  all 
closed  except  the  station  at  the  Dalles,  which  was 
occupied  only  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  valuable 
land  claim.  Thither  Waller  was  sent,  but  Whitman, 
at  Waiilatpu,  wishing  to  purchase  the  property,  it 
was  sold  to  him,  and  the  former  returned  to  the 
Willamette.  Thus  ended  ten  years  of  missionary 
labor,  at  a  cost  to  the  society  of  quarter  of  a  million 
dollars.  The  persons  sent  to  Oregon  by  the  society 
made  good  colonists  and  exercised  a  wholesome  in 
fluence,  which  extended  from  missionary  times  to  a 
much  later  date. 

When  the  methodists  arrived  at  French  prairie  in 
1835,  the  Canadians  became  desirous  of  obtaining  in 
structors  of  their  own  faith,  and,  in  answer  to  their 
appeals,  the  archbishop  of  Quebec  appointed  the 
Reverend  Francis  Norbert  Blanchet  to  establish  and 
take  charge  of  a  mission  in  Oregon,  with  the  title  of 
vicar-general,  and,  for  his  assistant,  gave  him  the 
Reverend  Modesto  Demers.  The  priests  left  Mont 
real  in  May  1838,  arriving  at  Fort  Vancouver  in  the 
autumn.  Blanchet  established  himself  among  the 
Cowlitz,  erecting  a  log  house,  the  place  receiving  the 
name  of  St  Francis  Xavier. 

During  the  summer  of  1839,  Demers  visited  the 
natives  in  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Colville  and  Nisqually, 
and  on  his  return,  in  October,  was  assigned  to  the 
charge  of  the  Cowlitz  establishment,  the  vicar-general 
having  proceeded  to  the  Willamette  valley,  where  he 
took  up  his  residence  October  1 2th,  and  dedicated  to 


CATHOLIC    MISSIONS.  555 

St  Paul,  January  6,  1840,  a  log  church,  which  had 
been  built  in  1836  in  anticipation  of  the  arrival  of 
catholic  priests. 

Jealousy  arose  between  the  catholics  and  methodists. 
Ta  the  spring  of  1840  Pierre  J.  De  Smet,  a  Jesuit, 
established  himself  among  the  Flatheads,  and  by  his 
Ln^jsing  presence,  his  intellect,  and  energy,  he 
achieved  a  marked  success.  Returning  to  St  Louis, 
he  came  again  the  following  year  with  the  Reverend 
Gregorio  Mengarini  of  Rome,  the  Reverend  Nicolas 
Point,  a  Vendean,  and  three  lay  brothers  who  were 
good  mechanics.  On  September  24,  1841,  the  Flat- 
head  mission  of  St  Mary  was  founded  on  Bitter  Root 
river,  and  later  the  mission  of  Sacred  Heart  among 
the  Clears  d'  Alenes.  Fathers  Peter  de  Vos  and 
Adrian  Hoaken,  with  three  lay  brothers,  were  sent 
to  tli3  Rjcky  mountains,  and  De  Smet  was  despatched 
t )  Earop3  to  solicit  aid.  He  was  successful,  and  in 
July  31,  1844,  he  again  arrived  in  Oregon,  accom 
panied  by  fathers  Antonio  Ravalli,  Giovanni  Nobili, 
Aloysius  Vercruysse,  Michele  Accolti,  several  lay 
brothers,  and  six  sisters  of  Notre  Dame  de  Namur. 
Tne  sisters  took  possession  of  a  convent  prepared  for 
thorn,  in  French  prairie,  called  St  Mary,  and  opened 
a  school  for  girls  in  October.  With  the  aid  of  his 
reenforcem3nts  Da  Smet  founded  in  quick  succession 
the  mission  of  St  Ignatius  among  the  Pend  d'Oreilles, 

-. ,  ,~  • 

and  the  chapels  of  St  Francis  Borgia  among  the 
Kalispelnii,  St  Francis  Regis  in  Colville  valley,  St 
Pater's  at  the  great  lakes  of  the  Columbia,  the  As 
sumption  on  Flatbow  lake,  and  the  Holy  Heart  of 
Miry  among  the  Kootenai. 

Meantime  Oregon  had  been  erected  by  Pope  Greg 
ory  XVI.  into  an  apostolic  vicariate,  Blanchet  being 
appointed  archbishop,  and  Demers  succeeding  him 
as  vicar-general.  The  briefs  reached  Oregon  Novem 
ber  4,  1844,  and  Blanchet  proceeded  to  Canada  to  re 
ceive  his  consecration,  and  thence  made  a  voyage  to 
Europe,  returning  to  Oregon  in  August  1847,  bring- 


556  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

ing  with  him  twenty-one  recruits,  among  whom  were 
seven  sisters  of  Notre  Dame  de  Namur. 

During  the  archbishop's  absence  in  Europe  his 
vicariate  had  been  erected  into  an  ecclesiastical  prov 
ince,  containing  the  three  sees  of  Oregon  city,  Walla 
Walla,  and  Vancouver  island.  The  first  was  allotted 
to  the  archbishop,  the  second  to  his  brother  A.  M.  A. 
Blanchet,  canon  of  Montreal,  and  the  third  to  Vicar- 
general  Derners.  The  bishop  of  Walla  Walla  arrived 
in  Oregon  during  the  autumn  of  1847,  accompanied  by 
nine  others,  among  whom  was  J.  B.  A.  Brouillet, 
who  had  been  appointed  vicar-general  of  Walla  Walla. 

Meanwhile  matters  were  less  prosperous  among  the 
presbyterians.  In  1840  the  station  at  Kainiah  was 
abandoned,  owing  to  the  overbearing  conduct  of  the 
Nez  Perces,  and  affairs  were  almost  as  bad  at  Lapwai 
and  Waiilatpu. 

In  September  1 842  Whitman  proceeded  to  Boston, 
with  a  view  to  procure  further  assistance  for  the  mis 
sions.  The  board  received  him  coldly,  and  he  returned 
a  year  later,  only  to  be  finally  killed  by  the  Indians. 

Jason  Lee's  lectures  in  the  east  in  1838  attracted 
immigration  to  Oregon.  The  first  movement  was 

O  O 

from  Peoria,  in  May  1839,  when  a  party  of  fourteen, 
with  Thomas  J.  Farnham  in  command,  set  forth  for 
the  Columbia  river.  Dissension,  however,  soon  broke 
out  among  them,  and  at  Bent  fort  the  company  dis 
banded.  Farnham  proceeded  on  his  journey,  and 
finally,  in  company  with  two  others,  Sidney  Smith 
and  a  Mr.  Blair,  reached  his  destination.  Blair  spent 
the  winter  at  Lapwai,  Smith  obtained  employment 
with  Ewing  Young,  while  Farnham  visited  the  Wil 
lamette  valley.  There  he  was  frequently  consulted  as 
to  the  probability  of  the  United  States  government 
taking  them  under  its  wing.  Acting  upon  his  advice, 
the  inhabitants  drew  up  a  memorial  to  congress,  set 
ting  forth  their  condition.  It  was  signed  by  sixty- 


IMMIGRATION.  557 

seven  men,  and  given  to  Farnham,  who  carried  it  to 
Washington. 

A  second  party,  of  eleven  persons,  left  Illinois  for 
Oregon  in  1839,  and  in  1840  another  group  of  pres- 
byterian  recruits  arrived.  Hunters  and  trappers, 
thrown  out  of  employment  by  the  dissolution  of  the 
American  Fur  company,  began  to  seek  homes  in 
Oregon  for  their  native  wives  and  half-breed  children, 
but  did  not  receive  a  very  hearty  welcome.  The  num 
ber  of  settlers  in  the  Willamette  valley  was  largely 
increased  in  1841  by  the  arrival  of  most  of  the  twenty- 
three  families  which  had  been  brought  out  from  the 
Red  river  settlement  under  the  auspices  of  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  company  to  settle  on  the  lands  of  the  Puget 
Sound  Agricultural  company.  They  were  first  located 
at  Xisqually,  but  discovering  the  inferior  quality  of 
the  soil,  nearly  all  of  them  removed  to  the  Willamette. 

In  1842  Doctor  White,  having  been  made  Indian 
agent,  set  forth  with  over  a  hundred  emigrants  for 
Oregon,  but  quarrelling  with  his  charge  by  the  way, 
L.  W.  Hastings  took  the  command,  and  the  train  was 
divided  into  two  factions.  On  the  arrival  of  the  im 
migrants  at  the  Willamette,  most  of  them  were  in  a 
destitute  condition,  from  which  they  were  relieved  by 
McLoughlin,  who  engaged  many  at  fair  wages,  and 
supplied  with  goods  on  credit  those  who  could  not 
make  immediate  payment.  Hastings  afterward  pub 
lished  a  narrative  of  his  travels.  He  was  a  man  of 
practical  ability,  but  ambitious,  and  of  a  selfish  and 
arbitrary  disposition. 

In  February  and  December  1838,  Lewis  F.  Linn, 
senator  from  Missouri,  introduced  two  bills,  for  the 
occupation  and  establishment  of  Oregon  territory. 
The  discussions  in  congress,  the  popularity  of  his  last 
bill,  together  with  the  missionary  efforts,  resulted  in 
a  pronounced  emigration  movement.  White's  party 
may  be  considered  as  having  been  the  advance  com 
pany  to  the  great  migration  which  followed  in  1843-5. 


558  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

In  the  western  border  states  there  was  a  great  number 
of  men  who  were  discontented  with  their  locations, 
which  were  remote  from  a  market  for  their  produc 
tions,  and  virtually  excluded  from  the  channels  of 
commerce.  They  were  brave,  restless,  aggressive, 
and  hardy  ;  they  were  intensely  patriotic,  and  a  jour 
ney  across  a  continent  to  assert  American  rights,  with 
the  offer  of  free  lands  on  a  seaboard  which  promised 
commercial  relations  with  the  Hawaiian  islands  and 
China,  presented  no  difficulties  that  they  would  not 
attempt  to  overcome. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1843  emigrants  from  Arkan 
sas,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Missouri 
were  on  their  way  to  the  great  rendezvous  near  In 
dependence.  By  the  middle  of  May,  nearly  1,000 
persons  were  assembled,  about  300  of  whom  were  men 
capable  of  bearing  arms.  It  was  now  thought  time 
to  organize.  There  was  also  a  large  company  from 
the  Platte  purchase  in  Missouri  under  the  leadership 
of  Peter  H.  Burnett,  of  Weston,  and  another  from 
Sb  Clair  county  led  by  Jesse  Applegate,  his  brothers 
Litidsey  and  Charles,  and  Daniel  Waldo.  A  third 
party,  bound  for  California,  was  led  by  Joseph  B. 
Chiles ;  and  other  companies  were  under  the  leader 
ships  of  T.  D.  Kaiser,  Jesse  Looney,  and  Daniel 
Matheney.  These  several  companies  adopted  the 
usual  rules,  and  organized  by  electing  Burnett  captain 
and  J.  W.  Nesmith  orderly  sergeant,  nine  councilmen 
being  chosen  to  assist  in  settling  disputes. 

The  body  now  moved  forward,  but  after  eight  days 
Burnett  became  disgusted  and  resigned  the  command, 
William  Martin  being  elected  in  his  place.  The  latter 
found  such  difficulty  in  controlling  so  large  a  body 
that  at  Big  Blue  river,  it  was  divided  into  two  columns, 
Jesse  Applegate  taking  command  of  the  second  and 
slower  one,  which  was  encumbered  with  herds. 

Arriving  in  the  country  after  the  usual  vicissitudes, 
the  immigrants  took  up  their  several  stations.  Waldo 
made  a  settlement  in  the  hills  southeast  of  Salem, 


NOTABLE  PIOXEERS.  559 

which  still  bears  his  name.  Nesmith  settled  in  that 
portion  of  the  Yamhill  district  which  now  constitutes 
Polk  county.  The  A.pplegates  wintered  at  the  old 
mission,  Jesse  being  employed  in  surveying  at  Salem 
and  Oregon  City.  In  the  spring  the  three  brothers 
selected  farms  in  Yamhill  district,  near  the  present 
site  of  Dallas. 

For  the  first  two  years  the  general  condition  of  the 
new  immigrants  was  one  of  destitution.  The  im 
migration  by  sea  during  1843  amounted  to  fourteen 
persons,  among  whom  was  Francis  W.  Pettygrove 
with  his  wife  and  child.  He  brought  with  him 
$15,000  worth  of  goods,  and  opened  a  store  at  Ore 
gon  City. 

In  the  spring  of  1844  a  large  company,  amounting 
to  1,400  persons,  was  assembled  at  the  Missouri 
river,  of  which  Cornelius  Gilliam  was  elected  general, 
Michael  T.  Simmons  colonel,  and  R.  W.  Morrison, 
William  Shaw,  Richard  Woodcock,  and  Elijah  Ben- 
ton  captains.  A  court  of  equity  was  also  established 
by  the  election  of  a  judge  and  two  associate  justices. 

Gilliam  had  conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  an 
independent  colony,  and  the  several  leaders  aspired 
more  to  military  glory  than  to  the  peaceful  pursuits 
of  settlers.  At  this  time  the  attitude  of  the  two 
governments  with  respect  to  the  boundary  question, 
had  assumed  a  warlike  phase,  and  these  immigrants 
would  have  delighted  in  driving  away  the  British. 
Gilliam  had  served  in  the  Black  Hawk  and  Seminole 
wars;  had  preached  the  gospel,  and  been  sheriff  of  a 
county.  He  was  a  fair  specimen  of  the  muscular 
parson,  brave,  impetuous,  and  generous,  though  some 
what  wilful  and  obstinate.  He  had  good  natural 
abilities,  though  but  little  developed  by  education. 
Simmons  was  also  uneducated,  but  being  of  a  fearless 
and  resolute  disposition  was  well  suited  to  the  position 
of  colonel  of  such  an  organization.  After  much  suf 
fering  and  a  few  deaths,  the  company  reached  its  des 
tination  in  a  disorganized  condition. 


560  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

Homes  were  the  first  requirement,  and  in  their 
selection  McLoughlin  was  naturally  anxious  that  no 
settler  should  locate  himself  north  of  the  Columbia. 
He  sought  by  every  means  to  cultivate  a  friendly 
feeling,  but  there  were  some  among  those  hardy 
pioneers  who  were  aggressive  in  the  extreme.  They 
were  determined,  before  any  boundary  line  between 
the  conflicting  governments  was  agreed  upon,  that 
Oregon,  north  or  south  of  the  Columbia,  should  not 
become  British  territory.  And  thus  it  was  that  in 
February,  1845,  Henry  Williamson,  of  Indiana,  and 
Isaac  W.  Alderman  erected  a  small  log-cabin  half  a 
mile  from  Fort  Vancouver,  and  posted  thereon  a 
notice  that  they  intended  to  claim  the  land.  Mc 
Loughlin  pulled  down  the  cabin  and  tore  the  notice 
to  pieces.  Then  followed  a  stormy  interview  between 
the  squatters  and  the  factor,  at  which  Alderman 
made  himself  conspicuous  for  his  abusive  language 
and  violent  demeanor.  He  went  to  California  in 
1848,  and  was  killed  in  December  of  that  year  by 
Charles  E.  Pickett  at  Sutter's  fort,  under  circum 
stances  that  justified  the  homicide. 

In  no  particular  does  it  appear  that  McLoughlin 
overstepped  the  limits  of  his  position  in  dealing  with 
this  aggression.  His  duty  was  clearly  marked  out- 
the  protection  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  company's  posts 
and  property,  Trespassing  upon  land  to  which  the 
company  had  a  prior  right  or  claim,  pending  a  settle 
ment,  could  not  be  admitted  by  one  in  charge  of  the 
company's  interests.  McLoughlin's  earnest  wish  was 
to  be  at  peace,  and  avoid  lawlessness  and  misrule. 
He  assisted,  as  far  as  it  was  possible  for  him  to  do  so, 
the  destitute  and  needy,  supplying  them  on  credit 
with  the  means  of  subsistence  and  agricultural  imple 
ments.  Yet  his  beneficent  intentions  were  not  appre 
ciated  at  the  time.  There  was  a  pressure,  irresistible 
in  its  action,  the  surge  of  a  human  tide,  determined 
to  gain  possession  of  the  land.  And  thus  it  was  that 
his  benevolence,  being  regarded  as  weakness,  provoked 


.ROADS  AND  PASSES.  561 

encroachment.  Williamson  and  Alderman  had  to 
yield,  but  their  discomfiture  did  not  deter  others  from 
proceeding  further  northward  and  settling  on  Puget 
sound.  Michael  T.  Simmons,  James  McAllister, 
David  Kindred,  Gabriel  Jones,  and  George  W.  Bush, 
with  their  families,  and  two  unmarried  men,  Jesse 
Ferguson  and  Samuel  B.  Crockett,  settled  at  the  head 
of  the  sound  in  the  neighborhood  of  Tuniwater. 

The  migration  into  Oregon  in  1845  was  far  in  ex- 

i 

cess  of  those  of  previous  years,  the  estimated  arri 
vals  being  no  less  than  3,000  persons,  which  doubled 
the  white  population,  and  had  a  marked  effect  on  the 
solution  of  the  boundary  question.  At  this  date  it 
was  a  moot  question  whether  the  British  or  Ameri 
cans  would  secure  California,  it  being  well  understood 
that  the  possession  of  that  region  would  give  com 
mand  of  the  seaboard  thence  to  the  undisputed  Brit 
ish  territory.  The  immigration  of  1846  was  not  so 
large  as  that  of  the  previous  year.  It  is  probable 
that  it  amounted  to  between  1,500  and  1,700  persons. 

In  close  connection  with  these  migrations  westward 
— some  portions  of  which  it  must  be  understood  turned 
toward  California — were  the  explorations  made  in  the 
endeavor  to  find  a  practicable  wagon  route  leading 
into  the  Willamette  valley.  The  sufferings  of  the 
immigrants  of  1843-5  stimulated  both  the  United 
States  government  and  the  colonists  in  Oregon  to 
search  for  a  orood  road  between  the  eastern  states  and 

^ 

the  far-off  regions  bordering  on  the  Pacific.  An  im 
pulse  was,  moreover,  given  both  to  the  government 
and  colonists  by  the  boundary  question.  The  possi 
bility  of  troops  being  sent  overland  from  Canada,  in 
case  of  hostility,  had  been  investigated  by  the  British 
officers,  Park  and  Peel,  and  the  fur  company's  posts 
had  been  found  to  be  so  located  that  there  would  be 
no  great  difficulty  in  marching  a  strong  force  into  the 
disputed  territory,  Settlers  in  Oregon  were  there- 

C.  B.— II.    36 


562  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

fore  anxious,  in  view  of  their  determination  to  hold 
possession,  that  an  equally  good  route  to  some  central 
point  should  be  discovered  and  opened  up,  in  order 
that  troops  and  armanents  might  be  concentrated 
against  possible  attack. 

Early  in  May  1846,  a  company  was  formed  to 
search  for  a  pass  in  the  Cascade  mountains.  It  was 
privately  assisted  by  Jesse  and  Lindsey  Applegate,  but 
failing  in  its  first  attempt  returned  for  reinforcements. 
The  two  Appelgates  thereupon  determined  that  a  fur 
ther  effort  should  be  made,  and  leaving  the  comforts 
of  home,  proceeded  with  thirteen  others  to  perform 
the  difficult  task.  Besides  the  Applegates  was 
Levi  Scott,  a  native  of  Illinois,  a  man  of  character 
and  determination,  and  the  prime  mover  of  the  enter 
prise.  Others  were  Henry  Bogus,  David  Goff, 
Owens,  and  Harris.  They  succeeded  in  discovering 
passes  through  the  Cascade  range  and  the  dividing 
ridge  which  separates  the  great  basin  of  the  Hum- 
boldt  and  the  lake  basin  of  the  Pacific  coast. 

Among  the  several  routes  discovered  the  superiority 
of  the  southern  one  was  established  by  Scott,  who  in 
May  1847  guided  over  it  a  party  of  twenty  men  re 
turning  to  the  States,  and  also  a  portion  of  the  mi 
gration  of  the  following  autumn.  Scott's  company 
reached  the  Willamette  in  good  season  and  in  good 
condition,  whereas  those  who  took  the  northern  road 
underwent  the  usual  hardships.  The  legislature  of  this 
year  passed  an  act  for  the  improvement  of  the  southern 
route,  making  Levi  Scott  commissioner,  and  allowing 
him  to  collect  a  small  toll.  Scott  was  the  founder 
of  Scottsburg,  on  the  Umpqua  river,  and  died  in  Lane 
county  in  1878,  at  the  age  of  eighty.  He  was  much 
respected  for  his  many  estimable  traits  of  character. 

Jesse  Applegate  settled  in  1849  at  the  headwaters 
of  Elk  creek  in  the  Umpqua  valley,  and  near  him 
was  his  brother  Charles.  Lindsey  Applegate  settled 
somewhat  later  on  Ashland  creek,  where  the  town  of 
Ashland  now  stands, 


PROVINCIAL  AXD   TERRITORIAL  AFFAIRS.  563 

Having  thus  narrated  the  leading  incidents  con 
nected  with  the  colonization  of  Oregon,  we  are  pre 
pared  to  understand  events  in  connection  with  the 
origin  and  development  of  a  territorial  government. 

Prior  to  the  arrival  of  Americans  in  the  Oregon 
country  no  legal  formalities  had  been  found  neces 
sary.  The  authority  of  the  chief  factor  was  absolute, 
the  fur  company's  charter  empowering  the  governor 
and  council  to  put  on  trial  and  punish  offenders  be 
longing  to  its  corps  of  employes.  The  Canadians  and 
other  servants  of  the  company  yielded  without  ques 
tion  to  their  right  to  judge  and  punish.  But  with 
the  Americans  it  was  different.  The  charter  forbade 
any  British  subject  to  trespass  upon  the  company's 
territory  for  the  purposes  of  trade,  but  this  prohibi 
tion  could  not  apply  to  others. 

Foreseeing  that  troubles  would  arise,  McLoughlin 
took  timely  measures  by  procuring,  through  an  act  of 
parliament,  the  appointment  of  justices  of  the  peace 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  James  Douglas 
being  selected  to  fill  that  office  at  Fort  Vancouver. 
These  justices  were  empowered  to  adjudicate  incases 
of  minor  offences,  and  impose  punishment;  to  arrest 
persons  guilty  of  serious  crimes  and  send  them  to 
Canada  for  trial ;  and  to  try  civil  suits  where  the 
amount  in  dispute  did  not  exceed  £200,  and  give 
judgment  therein. 

In  order  not  to  be  behind  the  British  fur  company 
in  the  exercise  of  civil  jurisdiction,  the  methodist  mis 
sions  in  1838  furnished  the  colonists  with  a  magistrate 
and  constable.  The  arrival  of  the  great  missionary 
reenforcement  of  1840  made  it  manifest  that  some 
form  of  crovernment  would  socn  be  needed,  and  in  the 

O 

following  winter  the  death  of  Ewing  Young  furnished 
the  occasion  for  establishing  some  such  machinery. 
Young  had  left  property  to  which  there  were 
no  known  heirs,  and  the  administration  of  the  estate 
became  necessary.  A  meeting  of  the  settlers  was 


564  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

called,  to  be  held  on  the  17th  and  18th  of  February, 
1841,  the  result  of  which  was  the  choosing  of  a  com 
mittee  to  frame  a  constitution  and  code  of  laws;  and 
though  it  was  deemed  expedient  to  defer  the  election 
of  a  governor,  owing  to  the  opposition  of  the  settlers 
to  a  chief  magistrate  drawn  from  the  missionary 
party,  a  supreme  judge  with  probate  powers,  a  clerk 
of  the  courts,  public  recorder,  high  sheriff  and  three 
constables  were  chosen.  The  convention  then  ad 
journed  to  meet  again  on  the  7th  of  June. 

But  wrhen  that  day  arrived  it  was  found  that  no  re 
port  had  been  prepared  by  the  committee,  which  in 
fact  had  not  even  been  called  together  by  its  chair 
man,  F.  N.  Blanchet,  who  now  resigned.  The  fact 
is  that  the  mission  party,  which  was  scheming  to  es 
tablish  a  government,  hoped  to  secure  the  catholic  in 
fluence  by  making  Blanchet  chairman  of  the  commit 
tee,  and  his  withdrawal  signified  that  the  Canadians 
would  take  no  part  in  its  organization.  Resolutions 
were  passed  rescinding  the  nominations  made  at  the 
previous  meeting,  and  an  adjournment  made  to  the 
first  Thursday  in  October.  The  question  as  to  the 
necessity  of  a  governor  was  revived,  while  many  in 
fluential  persons  were  opposed  to  the  idea  of  a  govern 
ment  so  long  as  harmony  existed  without  one.  More 
over,  Lieutenant  Wilkes,  in  command  of  the  United 
States  exploring  expedition,  was  in  Oregon  at  this 
time,  and  being  consulted  condemned  the  scheme  on 
the  ground  that  only  a  small  minority  of  the  people, 
desired  to  establish  a  government;  that  laws  were 
not  necessary  and  would  be  a  poor  substitute  for  the 
moral  code  followed  by  all ;  that  the  majority  of  the 
population  being  catholic  would  elect  all  the  important 
officers;  and  that  an  unfavorable  impression  would  be 
produced  in  the  United  States  as  to  the  influence  of 
missions,  which  were  obliged  to  resort  to  a  criminal 
code.  Thus  baffled,  the  missionary  party  made  no 
further  effort  for  the  moment. 

The  return  of  White  in  1842,  with  a  provisional 


INDIAN  AGENT  WHITE.  565 

claim  to  the  governorship  appended  to  his  commis 
sion  as  Indian  agent,  stirred  up  the  question  anew. 
Few  were  anxious  to  see  White  the  civil  head  of  the 
community ;  and  the  missionary  party,  without  openly 
opposing  him,  quietly  used  their  influence  to  crush 
him. 

During  the  autumn  of  1842  overtures  were  again 
made  to  the  Canadians  to  assist  in  forming  a  tempo 
rary  government,  but  they  again  declined.  Meetings, 
however,  were  held  in  different  parts  of  the  colony, 
called  ostensibly  to  devise  means  of  protecting  the 
herds  from  wild  animals,  but  really  to  bring  the  set 
tlers  together,  both  Canadian  and  American,  in  order 
that  the  plan  of  a  provisional  government  might  be 
broached.  Notice  was  given  that  a  general  meeting 
would  be  held,  March  6,  1843,  at  the  house  of  Joseph 
Gervais,  a  friend  of  the  msthodist  mission ;  and  as 
almost  every  settler  had  sustained  loss  through  de 
struction  of  stock  by  panthers,  wolves,  and  cougars, 
the  meeting  was  well  attended.  The  preliminary  bus 
iness  being  concluded,  and  a  Wolf  organization  formed, 
a  resolution  was  passed,  "that  a  committee  be  ap 
pointed  to  take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of 
taking  measures  for  the  civil  and  military  protection 
of  this  colony."  A  committee  of  twelve  members 
was  appointed  to  report.  Meantime,  the  matter  was 
skilfully  agitated  among  the  settlers,  who  were  con 
vinced  that  an  organization  was  becoming  inevitable ; 
and  the  time  for  action  being  now  ripe,  the  committee 
called  a  mass  meeting  to  be  held  May  2d  at  Cham- 
poeg  to  hear  their  report. 

The  number  of  American  and  Canadian  settlers 
that  assembled  on  the  appointed  day  was  about 
equally  divided.  After  the  report  of  the  committee, 
which  was  in  favor  of  organization,  had  been  read, 
a  motion  to  accept  it  was  made.  Thereupon  consid 
erable  confusion  ensued,  and  it  was  found  impossible 
to  count  the  ayes  and  noes  without  a  division  of  the 
meetinor.  This  being  done,  it  was  found  that  a  small 

o  O  * 


566  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

majority  was  in  favor  of  organizing  a  temporary  gov 
ernment,  whereupon  the  minority  withdrew. 

The  report  of  the  committee  was  next  taken  and 
disposed  of  article  by  article,  the  result  being  the 
election  of  a  supreme  judge,  recorder,  sheriff,  four 
magistrates,  and  four  constables.  Military  officers 
were  also  chosen,  and  a  legislative  committee,  consist 
ing  of  nine  members,  whose  duty  it  was  to  draft  a 
code  of  laws,  the  5th  of  July  being  appointed  as  the 
day  on  which  to  receive  their  report.  At  the  ap 
pointed  time  the  meeting  assembled,  and  adopted  the 
several  reports  on  the  judiciary,  ways  and  means, 
military  affairs,  land  claims,  and  the  division  of  the 
territory  into  districts.  The  legislative  power  was 
vested  in  a  committee  of  nine  persons,  to  be  elected 
annually.  The  judicial  power  was  vested  in  a  supreme 
court,  consisting  of  a  supreme  judge  and  two  justices 
of  the  peace. 

The  question  of  an  executive  had  troubled  the 
minds  of  the  legislative  committee  not  a  little.  Such 
a  head  was  necessary,  and  the  committee  solved  the 
difficulty  by  recommending  the  appointment  of  an 
executive  committee.  This  article  of  the  proposed 
code  caused  considerable  debate,  but  the  plan  was 
finally  adopted,  David  Hill,-  Alanson  Beers,  and 
Joseph  Gale,  none  of  whom  had  influence  enough  to 
be  dangerous,  being  elected  the  members  of  the  first 
executive  committee. 

As  regards  the  military  law,  it  provided  for  one 
battalion,  divided  into  three  or  more  companies  of 
mounted  riflemen.  With  the  consent  of  the  executive 
committee,  White,  as  an  authorized  agent  of  the 
United  States,  might  call  on  these  troops  to  quell 
uprisings  of  the  Indians. 

The  law  of  land  claims  was  the  most  important  of 
all  to  those  who  were  in  favor  of  organization.  It 
required  that  each  claimant  should  designate  the 
boundaries  of  his  claim  and  have  the  same  recorded 
in  the  office  of  the  territorial  recorder.  Improve- 


JUDICIARY.  667 

ments  must  be  made  on  the  land  within  six  months 
after  recording,  and  the  claimant  was  required  to  re 
side  on  it  within  one  year  thereafter.  No  one  could 
hold  a  claim  of  more  than  one  square  mile,  or  its 
equivalent  in  acres  in  an  oblong  form.  The  fourth 
article  was  designed  to  extinguish  John  McLoughlin's 
claim  at  Oregon  City  It  forbade  all  persons  to  hold 
claims  upon  city  or  town  sites,  extensive  water  privi 
leges,  or  other  locations  necessary  for  mercantile  or 
manufacturing  purposes.  When  the  motion  was  put 
to  adopt  the  law  as  a  whole,  considerable  argument 
arose,  as  the  mission  laid  claim  to  a  portion  of  the 
land  and  had  erected  mills  on  the  island  at  the  falls. 
In  order  to  meet  the  emergency  and  satisfy  the  mis 
sion,  a  proviso  was  introduced  to  the  effect  "that 
nothing  in  these  laws  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  affect 
any  claim  of  any  mission  of  a  religious  character, 
made  previous  to  this  time,  of  an  extent  not  more 
than  six  miles  square."  Thus  early  was  legislation 
perverted  in  the  name  of  religion. 

A  committee  composed  of  Jason  Lee,  Harvey 
Clark,  and  David  Leslie  was  chosen  to  administer  the 
the  oath  of  office  to  those  who  were  elected  on  May 
6th,  and  also  to  the  supreme  judge,  who  thereafter 
would  qualify  all  civil  and  military  officers  elected  by 
the  people.  The  oath  of  office  was  also  administered 
the  same  day  to  the  three  members  of  the  executive, 
and  the  business  of  starting  the  machinery  of  the 
first  government  of  Oregon  was  concluded. 

As  I  have  already  mentioned,  the  immigration  of 
1843  greatly  swelled  the  number  of  the  settlers. 
The  new-comers  were  a  people  of  pronounced  char 
acter,  and  their  leaders  aspired  to  the  achievement  of 
founding  a  state.  On  their  arrival  they  eagerly  dis 
cussed  the  laws  that  had  been  passed,  of  which  the 
land  law  was  the  most  important.  Thereby  it  was 
enacted  that  new  settlers  should  record  their  claims 
within  twenty  days  after  locating  them,  while  old  set 
tlers  were  allowed  a  year.  This  was  regarded  as  un- 


568  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

just  discrimination ;  and  the  proviso  allowing  the  mis 
sions  six  miles  square  indicated  the  grasping  disposi 
tion  of  the  missionaries.  Nevertheless  this  sect  was 
of  all  religions  usually  the  most  popular  on  the  west 
ern  frontier;  and  many  of  the  immigrants  of  1843 
being  zealous  methodists  attached  themselves  to  the 

o 

missionary  party 

But  most  of  the  leading  men  were  not  hampered 
by  religious  allegiance,  and  these  openly  exhibited  a 
preference  for  the  officers  of  the  fur  company,  whose 
friendship  and  respect  they  had  gained  by  their  true 
manliness. 

The  Hudson's  Bay  company  recognized  that  some 
form  of  government  had  become  necessary,  but  they 
could  not  bring  themselves  to  the  point  of  rendering 
allegiance  to  the  United  States.  They,  therefore, 
were  in  favor  of  a  temporary  government,  independ 
ent  of  that  power,  which  plan  was  approved  even  by 
some  of  the  Americans.  The  majority,  however, 
were  opposed  to  such  a  compromise — the  missionaries, 
because  in  the  event  of  a  union  of  the  two  nationali 
ties,  they  would  be  unable  to  hold  a  leading  position 
in  affairs;  and  others  through  motives  of  patriotism. 

According  to  the  organic  law  the  election  was  held 
on  the  second  Tuesday  of  1844,  at  which  W.  J. 
Bailey,  Osborne  Russell,  and  P.  G.  Stewart  were 
chosen  for  the  executive ;  the  legislative  branch  was 
composed  of  P.  H.  Burnett,  M.  M.  McCarver,  David 
Hill,  Mathevv  Gilmore,  A.  L.  Lovejoy,  Daniel  Waldo, 
T.  D.  Kaiser,  and  Robert  Newell.  Bailey  had  been 
in  Oregon  since  1835.  He  was  of  English  birth,  of 
liberal  education,  and  well  adapted  to  the  position. 
Russell  was  a  native  of  Maine,  and  had  been  several 
years  in  the  mountains  with  the  fur  companies.  He 
was  a  man  of  education,  refinement,  and  unswerving 

integrity. 

. 

The  executive  message  to  the  legislature  recom 
mended  that  several  alterations  should  be  made  in 
the  organic  law,  and  also  contained  various  good  sug- 


LAW  AND  LAND.  569 

gestions.  Much  of  the  work  of  the  previous  year 
was  undone  by  the  legislature  of  1844.  By  an  act  of 
June  27th  the  executive  power  was  vested  in  a  single 
person,  to  be  elected  at  the  next  annual  election,  and 
to  hold  office  for  a  term  of  two  years.  The  legislative 
power  was  vested  in  a  house  of  representatives,  con 
sisting  of  thirteen  members,  nine  being  thought  too 
small  a  number,  in  view  of  the  increased  population. 
The  judiciary  system  was  also  changed,  the  judicial 
power  being  vested  in  circuit  courts  and  justices  of 
the  peace,  while  a  judge  with  probate  powers  was  to 
be  appointed,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  hold  two 
terms  of  court  in  each  county,  annually. 

One  of  the  conditions  insisted  upon  by  the  old 
colonists,  in  consenting  to  the  organization  of  a  gov 
ernment,  was  that  they  should  not  be  taxed.  But  a 
regular  government  could  not  be  sustained  without  a 
revenue,  and  the  ways  and  means  act  called  for  a  tax 
of  one.  eighth  of  one  per  cent  upon  the  value  of  mer 
chandise  brought  into  the  country ;  on  improvements 
on  town  lots;  on  mills,  private  carriages,  clocks, 
watches,  horses,  mules,  cattle,  and  hogs.  Every 
white  voter,  moreover,  had  to  pay  a  poll-tax  of  fifty 
cents.  The  same  act  provided  that  any  person  refus 
ing  to  pay  taxes  should  have  no  benfit  from  the  laws 
of  Oregon,  and  should  be  disqualified  from  voting. 
This  pressure  was  effectual ;  few  were  willing  to  fore 
go  the  assistance  of  the  government  in  preventing 
trespass  and  collecting  debts,  or  to  be  placed  outside 
the  pale  of  politics  and  society. 

The  land  law  was  repealed,  and  the  obnoxious  dis 
crimination  between  old  and  new  settlers  done  away 
with  by  dispensing  with  the  custom  of  recording 
claims,  which  was  considered  a  doubtful  privilege,  as 
the  country  was  unsurveyed.  Only  free  men  over 
eighteen  years  of  age  could  legally  claim  640  acres, 
though  a  boy  under  eighteen,  if  married,  could  hold 
land ;  occupancy  was  interpreted  as  actual  residence 
by  the  owner  or  his  agent.  But  the  great  change 


570  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

desired  by  the  people  was  to  disallow  the  right  of 
missions  to  hold  six  miles  square  of  land,  and  as  three- 
fourths  of  the  legislature  were  new-comers — the  ninth 
member  not  having  been  elected — this  was  effected, 
and  the  missions  placed  on  the  same  footing  with 
other  claimants. 

The  seat  of  government  was  established  at  Oregon 
City,  called  in  the  act  Willamette  Falls,  and  the 
Columbia  river  declared  to  be  the  northern  boundary 
of  the  territory;  but  this  last  act  caused  such  an 
outburst  of  popular  opposition  that  at  the  second 
session,  in  December,  an  explanatory  act  was  passed, 
defining  the  territory  of  Oregon  as  lying  between  lati 
tudes  42°  and  54°  40',  and  extending  from  the  Rocky 
mountains  to  the  sea. 

Slavery  was  forbidden  in  Oregon,  and  laws  were 
enacted  bearing  upon  that  question.  Neither  could 
the  presence  of  the  free  negro  or  mulatto  be  toler- 
aterl  ;  and  to  rid  the  country  of  this  objectionable 
element  it  was  enacted  that  corporal  punishment 
should  be  inflicted  on  all  black  men  of  eighteen  years 
and  upwards,  who  had  had  not  left  the  territory 
within  two  years  after  the  passage  of  the  act.  Such 
a  law,  however,  conflicted  too  glaringly  with  the 
spirit  of  free  institutions,  and  it  was  amended  at  the 
December  session.  The  section  making  whipping  the 
punishment  for  remaining  in  the  country  was  re 
pealed,  and  one  substituted,  providing  for  the  hiring 
out  of  such  offenders,  to  any  person  who  would  give 
bonds  to  remove  them  out  of  the  territory  within  the 
shortest  possible  space  of  time,  availing  himself  of 
their  services  by  way  of  compensation.  During  the 
two  years  that  this  law  remained  inoperative,  changes 
occurred  in  the  territory  which  did  away  with  the 
motive  for  enforcing  it. 

Another  act  passed  at  the  December  session,  pro 
vided  for  the  holding  of  a  constitutional  convention, 
and  the  executive  committee  was  required  to  notify 
the  inhabitants  that  at  the  next  annual  election  they 


CONSTITUTIONAL   CONVENTION.  571 

should  give  their  votes  for  or  against  the  call  for  a 
convention  to  frame  a  constitution.  This  act  was  un 
favorably  regarded  by  the  admirers  of  the  original 
organic  law,  being  considered  a  movement  toward  an 

o  *  o 

independent  government ;  but  considering  the  slow 
ness  with  which  the  settlement  of  the  boundary  ques 
tion  was  proceeding,  the  acts  of  December  showed  a 
determination  to  perfect,  as  rapidly  as  possible,  a  gov 
ernment  which  would  be  able  to  cope  with  whatever 
exigencies  might  arise. 

The  expenses  of  this  incipient  government  were  ex 
tremely  small.  The  salary  assigned  to  the  future 
governor  was  only  $300  a  year,  and  the  pay  of  the 
executive  committee  the  same  amount,  that  is,  $100 
to  each  member.  The  legislative  committee  voted 
themselves  two  dollars  a  day,  and  the  same  for  the 
assessor  of  revenue.  The  whole  expenses  of  the  gov 
ernment  during  the  first  year  amounted  to  $917.96, 
to  meet  which  there  were  $358.31  in  the  treasury,  the 
tax-collector  not  having  yet  completed  his  labors. 
This  was  less  than  fifty  cents  for  each  individual  of 
the  country,  the  number  of  the  inhabitants  being  2,109, 
according  to  the  census  taken  that  year  by  order  of 
the  legislature 

It  may  be  considered  that  there  were  now  but  two 
prominent  parties  in  Oregon,  the  American  and  the 
independent,  the  latter  including  the  Canadians. 
There  were  four  candidates  for  the  governorship,  A. 
L.  Lovejoy,  George  Abernethy,  Osborne  Russell, 
and  W.  J.  Bailey.  Lovejoy  represented  the  Ameri 
can,  Russell,  the  independent,  and  Abernethy,  the 
now  feeble  mission  party.  At  the  convention  which 
was  held  at  Champoeg,  April  8,  1845,  Lovejoy  ob 
tained  the  greatest  number  of  votes ;  but  before  the 
election,  the  independents,  seeing  the  impossibility  of 
securing  the  office  for  their  own  candidate,  went  over 
to  Abernethy,  who  accordingly  became  governor. 


572  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

The  call  for  a  constitutional  convention  was  lost  by  a 
considerable  majority. 

The  legislature  held  that  it  was  not  a  constitutioual 
body,  because  the  organic  law  under  which  it  had 
been  created  had  never  been  submitted  to  the  people 
for  approval.  During  the  session,  however,  the  or 
ganic  and  other  laws  were  revised,  especially  the  land 
law,  which  was  incorporated  in  the  organic  laws.  It 
was  much  altered  in  its  construction,  no  discrimina 
tion  being  made  in  regard  to  color,  nationality,  age, 
or  sex.  The  revised  organic  law  was  called  a  com 
pact  instead  of  a  constitution. 

On  July  5th  the  legislature  adjourned  to  meet  again 
on  August  5th.  A  special  election  was  held  July 
26th,  at  which  the  people  were  made  acquainted  with 
first,  the  original  laws  enacted  July  5,  1843;  second, 
the  amended  laws  ;  and  third,  a  schedule  declaring 
the  governor  and  legislature  elected  in  June,  the  offi 
cers  to  carry  into  effect  the  amended  organic  laws. 
As  there  was  no  printing-press  in  Oregon  manuscript 
copies  of  each  law  were  made  and  read  three  times  at 
every  polling  place.  The  majority  were  in  favor  of  the 
amended  laws,  and  the  list  of  officers  elected  in  the 
previous  June  was  over  two  hundred. 

The  leading  spirit  in  the  legislature  of  1845  was 
Jesse  Applegate,  whose  fidelity  to  his  trust  is  stamped 
upon  their  proceedings.  Early  in  the  first  session  a 
memorial  to  congress  was  prepared,  setting  forth  the 
condition  and  wants  of  Oregon.  It  was  given  to 

<_?  o 

Indian  Agent  White  to  be  carried  to  Washington, 
whither  he  was  proceeding  to  obtain  an  adjustment 
of  his  accounts,  no  funds  having  been  placed  at  his 
disposal  wherewith  to  reimburse  himself  for  expenses 
incurred  in  the  Indian  service. 

White's  aspirations  to  the  governorship  had  been 
disappointed  by  the  turn  which  affairs  had  taken  in 
Oregon,  as  well  as  by  the  change  in  the  administra 
tion  which  had  occurred  at  Washington.  Moreover, 
circumstances  occurred  shortly  after  his  departure 


SHARP  PRACTICE.  573 

that  excluded  him  thereafter  from  taking  part  in  pol 
itics  in  Oregon.  The  speaker,  M.  M.  McCarver, 
had  not  at  first  attached  his  signature  to  the  copy  of 
the  organic  law  which  accompanied  the  memorial, 
because  he  was  opposed  to  the  amended  form.  Just 
before  White's  departure,  however,  he  clandestinely 
added  his  name  to  it  as  speaker  of  the  house.  As 
soon  as  White  had  started  on  his  journey,  Barton  Lee 
exposed  the  affair  to  the  house,  and  a  messenger  was 
sent  after  him  to  bring  back  the  documents.  The 
Indian  agent  defiantly  declined  to  relinquish  them, 
and  proceeded  on  his  journey.  This  ended  White's 
career  in  Oregon.  Resolutions  were  passed  declaring 
him  to  be  not  a  proper  person  to  fill  any  office  in  the 
country,  and  attested  copies  forwarded  to  Washing 
ton,  which  action,  with  the  changes  that  had  occurred 
in  the  capital,  defeated  his  aspirations. 

During  the  first  session  Governor  Abernethy  was 
in  the  Hawaiian  islands,  but  by  the  opening  of  the 
second  session  he  had  returned,  and  sent  in  his  first 
message.  In  1841  the  United  States  vessel  Peacock 
was  lost  inside  the  bar  of  the  Columbia,  and  the  com 
mander,  Wilkes,  left  the  launch  with  all  its  rigging  in 
care  of  McLoughlin  until  called  for  by  some  person 
authorized  by  him  or  by  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  The  legislature,  however,  considered  that 
the  new  government  was  the  proper  custodian  of  the 
boat,  and  asked  McLoughlin  to  deliver  it  up,  which 
he  declined  to  do.  At  the  third  session  an  act  was 
passed  authorizing  the  governor  to  take  charge  of  the 
launch,  and  demand  possession  of  the  rigging.  Aber 
nethy  addressed  a  letter  to  McLoughlin  enclosing  a 
copy  of  the  act,  and  requesting  him  to  make  the  de 
livery,  McLoughlin  again  declined  to  surrender  the 
boat,  and  the  matter  threatened  to  become  serious. 
It  was  finally  settled  by  his  placing  the  launch  and 
its  rigging  in  the  hands  of  Lieutenant  Howison  of 
the  United  States  navy,  who  sold  it  to  a  Mr  Shelly 
for  the  avowed  purpose  of  using  it  as  a  pilot  boat.  In 


574  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

this  affair  the  Oregon  legislature  acted  on  the  princi 
ple  that,  as  the  representatives  of  the  people,  they 
had  a  right  to  take  charge  of  the  United  States  prop 
erty. 

Early  in  the  session  a  bill  was  passed  adopting  the 
statutes  of  Iowa  so  far  as  they  were  applicable  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  country,  and  the  next  step 
was  to  extend  the  jurisdiction  of  the  government  to 
the  territory  north  of  the  Columbia.  This  was  done 
by  creating  the  district  of  Vancouver,  embracing  all 
the  region  north  and  west  of  that  river.  And  now 
came  the  matter  of  apportionment,  in  which  connec 
tion  arose  the  important  question  whether  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  company  would  become  parties  to  the 
articles  of  the  compact  by  the  payment  of  taxes. 
The  subject  was  broached  to  McLoughlin  by  Apple- 
gate,  and  under  the  circumstances  the  former  deemed 
it  prudent  to  comply.  In  June  McLoughlin  had  re 
ceived  a  communication  from  the  directors  informing 
him  that  in  the  present  state  of  affairs  the  company 
would  receive  no  protection  from  the  government, 
and  must  protect  itself  as  best  it  could.  McLough 
lin  and  Douglas  considered  that  the  best  means  to 
secure  the  company's  property  would  be  to  join  the 
Americans  in  their  organization  of  government,  and 
agreed  to  do  so  provided  they  were  called  upon  to 
pay  taxes  only  on  their  sales  to  settlers.  Ihis  con 
dition  was  accepted,  and  the  officers  of  the  fur  com 
pany,  with  all  the  British  residents,  became  parties 
to  the  compact.  In  the  election  of  officials  James 
Douglas  was  chosen  district  judge  for  three  years, 
and  John  R.  Jackson  was  made  sheriff  of  Vancouver 
district.  This  arrangement  was  most  opportune. 

.  A  few  days  after  McLoughlin  and  Douglas  had 
given  their  consent,  Captain  Park  of  the  royal  ma 
rines  arrived  from  Puget  sound  with  a  letter  from 
Admiral  Seymour  in  command  of  the  British  squad 
ron  in  the  Pacific,  informing  McLoughlin  that  pro 
tection  would  be  given  to  British  subjects  in  Oregon; 


JOHN  McLOUGHLTN.  575 

and  about  the  1st  of  October  the  Modeste,  Captain 
Baillie,  sent  by  the  admiral  for  that  purpose,  anchored 
in  front  of  Vancouver.  Had  this  occurred  a  short 
time  before,  McLoughlin  would  not  have  agreed  to 
the  union,  and  war  would  probably  have  been  the  re 
sult.  As  it  was,  his  conduct  was  severely  condemned 
by  the  authorities.  Among  other  accusations,  he  was 
charged  with  having  pursued  a  policy  which  encour 
aged  the  introduction  of  American  settlers  into  the 
country  until  they  outnumbered  the  British.  His 
answer  was  that  while  he  had  done  some  things  purely 
for  humanity's  sake,  he  had,  nevertheless,  always  in 
tended  to  avert,  and  had  averted,  a  collision  by  dis 
playing  courtesy  and  kindness  to  the  American  immi 
grants.  In  joining  the  political  organization,  he  had 
done  what  he  deemed  for  the  best,  no  less  the  best 
for  the  company  than  for  humanity.  In  1843  he  had 
informed  the  directors  of  the  threats  against  Fort 
Vancouver,  and  asked  for  protection ;  receiving  none, 
he  did  not  see  how  he  could  have  acted  otherwise. 
And  now,  weary  of  a  responsibility  which  increasing 
years  made  doubly  burdensome,  and  feeling  himself 
somewhat  too  jealously  watched  by  the  British  gov 
ernment,  in  the  autumn  of  1845  he  tendered  his 
resignation,  and  in  the  spring  of  the  following  year 
took  up  his  residence  in  Oregon  City  with  the  inten 
tion  of  becoming  an  American  citizen.  He  was  suc 
ceeded  at  Fort  Vancouver  by  Peter  Skeen  Ogden, 
while  James  Douglas  was  established  in  command  of 
Victoria,  Vancouver  island. 

The  aspect  of  affairs  in  the  spring  of  1846  was  so 
significant  of  England's  intention  to  maintain  her 
claim  to  Oregon  that,  though  in  the  amended  organic 
law  the  subject  of  military  organization  had  been  neg 
lected,  some  spirited  citizens  called  a  meeting  at  the 
house  of  David  Waldo,  in  Champoeg  county,  and  or 
ganized  a  company  of  mounted  riflemen,  with  Charles 
Bennett  as  captain. 


576  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

About  the  same  time  the  British  frigate  Fisgard 
arrived  at  Nisqually,  there  to  remain  as  long  as  the 
war-cloud  threatened.  In  fact,  the  boundary  ques 
tion  had  now  reached  the  point  where  it  would  have 
to  be  settled,  and  England  finally  accepted  the  49th 
parallel.  During  the  process  of  adjustment,  and  be 
fore  the  cry  of  fifty-four  forty  or  fight  had  died  away, 
the  joy  and  exultation  of  the  colonists  were  un 
bounded.  But  when  copies  of  the  treaty  reached 
them,  and  it  was  realized  that  the  49th  parallel,  in 
stead  of  the  54°  40'  line,  was  the  boundary  agreed 
upon,  and  that  the  Hudson's  Bay  company  was  con 
firmed  in  the  possession  of  lands  and  other  property 
which  it  held  in  the  territory,  dissatisfaction  was  gen 
eral.  The  treaty  was  so  unpopular  in  Oregon  that 
instead  of  healing,  it  intensified  hostilities, 

A  memorial  to  congress  was  prepared  which,  after 
calling  attention  to  the  great  productiveness  of  the 
territory,  proceeded  to  state  that  the  colonists  had 
been  induced  to  undertake  the  difficult  journey  to 
Oregon  by  the  promise  of  the  government  that  their 
lands  should  be  secured  to  them,  and  they  asked  that 
their  claims  might  be  confirmed.  They,  moreover, 
required  schools,  a  steam  tug-boat  for  the  navigation 
of  the  Columbia,  and  a  railroad  to  the  Pacific,  and 
solicited  the  aid  of  government  to  procure  them. 

An  election  was  held  in  June  1847,  and  Abernethy 
ao-ain  chosen  governor.  He  was  a  native  of  Aber- 

•  •  • 

deen,  Scotland,  though  reared  under  American  insti 
tutions;  a  man  less  strong  than  politic;  indeed,  his 
strength  lay  in  the  direction  of  White's — adaptability 
and  persuasiveness.  He  was  very  careful  not  to 
offend  public  opinion,  either  in  a  religious  or  politi 
cal  point  of  view,  and  therefore  could  not  exercise 
much  influence  for  any  length  of  time.  Courteous 
in  demeanor,  he  was  reticent,  designing,  and  implac 
able  in  his  hatred,  as  weak  men  often  are. 

During  the  following  year  Cornelius  Gilliam  was 
appointed  superintendent  of  postal  affairs,  and  Charles 


POLITICAL  NOTABLES.  577 

E.  Pickett  Indian  agent.  Another  memorial  was 
mailed  to  the  general  government,  complaining  of  neg 
lect.  As  Oregon  could  not  agree  on  a  delegate  to 
Washington,  J.  Quinn  Thornton  secretly  departed 
thither  by  sea  as  agent  of  Abernethy.  This  made 
the  people  angry,  and  they  sent  Joseph  L.  Meek  over 
land  with  despatches.  Thornton  reached  Washing 
ton  on  the  llth  of  May,  1848.  The  letters  with 
which  he  had  been  provided  by  Abernethy  secured 
for  him  a  friendly  recognition,  and  but  for  the  appear 
ance  of  Meek,  the  duly  authorized  messenger  of  the 
colonial  government,  he  would  have  received  some 
consideration. 

On  the  arrival  of  Meek,  whose  mountain  costume 
and  rugged  appearance  attracted  much  attention  in 
Washington,  President  Polk  laid  before  congress  a 
special  message  on  the  Oregon  question,  in  which  he 
quoted  some  passages  from  the  memorial  brought  by 
Meek,  touching  upon  the  neglect  of  congress.  Again 
he  called  attention  to  the  want  of  a  territorial  organ 
ization,  and  recommended  that  a  regiment  of  mounted 
men  should  be  raised  for  service  in  Oregon,  and  Ind 
ian  agents  appointed  for  the  different  tribes. 

On  the  31st  of  May  Senator  Bright  of  Indiana 
again  brought  up  the  Oregon  bill.  After  a  long  dis 
cussion  of  the  slavery  question,  on  August  2,  1848, 
the  bill  passed  the  house,  and  between  nine  and  ten 
o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  August  13th,  it  passed 
the  senate,  after  an  all-night  session.  Thus  Oregon 
became  a  territory  of  the  United  States  on  her  own 
terms. 

Though  Oregon  had  been  granted  a  territorial 
organization,  nothing  was  done  on  the  all-important 
subject  of  land  claims,  except  to  secure  the  missions  in 
the  possession  of  640  acres  each,  and  deprive  every 
one  else  of  the  title  they  formerly  held  under  the 
provisional  government.  In  section  14  of  the  terri 
torial  act  it  is  provided  that  "  all  laws  heretofore 
passed  in  said  territory  making  grants  of  lands  .  .  . 


C.  B.— II.    37 


578  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

are  hereby  declared  to  be  null  and  void."  Nor  was 
anything  done  for  the  timely  relief  of  Oregon  in  the 
matter  of  troops  and  munitions  of  war. 

President  Polk,  who  had  been  elected  on  the  issues 
of  the  Oregon  question,  anxious  that  the  new  terri 
tory  should  be  established  during  his  administration, 
appointed  Joseph  Lane  of  Indiana,  governor,  with 
instructions  to  organize  the  government  before  the 
4th  of  March  following.  The  other  appointees  were 
Knitzing  Pritchett  of  Pennsylvania,  secretary  ;  Wil 
liam  P.  Bryant  of  Indiana,  chief  justice  ;  William 
Strong  of  Ohio  and  O.  C.  Pratt,  associate  justices ; 
Amory  Holbrook,  United  States  attorney  ;  Joseph 
L.  Meek,  marshal ;  and  John  Adair  of  Kentucky, 
collector  for  the  district  of  Oregon. 

On  August  20th  Meek  received  his  commission  as 

O 

well  as  that  of  Governor  Lane,  to  whom  he  delivered 
it  on  the  27th,  and  on  the  29th  they  were  on  their 
way  to  Oregon.  Owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  season 
they  were  compelled  to  take  the  southern  route 
by  way  of  Santa  Fe  and  Tucson  to  California ;  and 
after  a  slow  and  toilsome  journey,  and  an  equally 
tedious  voyage,  they  reached  Oregon  City  March  2, 
1849. 

On  the  following  day  Governor  Lane  published  a 
proclamation  making  it  known  that  he  had  been 
appointed  governor  of  Oregon  Territory  and  had 
entered  upon  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office, 
and  declaring  the  laws  of  the  United  States  to  be  in 
force  therein.  Thus  Oregon  enjoyed  one  day's  exist 
ence  under  the  administration  of  the  president  whose 
acts  were  so  closely  linked  with  her  history  in  the 
settlement  of  the  boundary  question. 

Without  noise  or  disturbance,  the  provincial  gov 
ernment  came  to  an  end,  and  with  its  extinction  died 
the  missions'  political  influence.  For  several  years 
the  head  and  front  of  this  party  had  been  Abernethy, 
who  after  the  change  in  affairs  accumulated  wealth 
by  business  ventures.  But  overreaching  himself, 


JOSEPH  LANE.  579 

after  some  years  of  prosperity,  he  lost  his  hold  on 
fortune,  and  became  involved  in  debt.  In  1861-2 
the  flood  which  devastated  Oregon  City  swept  away 
most  of  what  remained  of  his  property,  whereupon 
he  removed  to  Portland  and  there  remained  until  his 
death  in  1877. 

In  1842  threats  were  made  by  the  Nez  Perces  to 
exterminate  the  missionaries,  while  the  Cayuses  had 
an  evil  eye  on  the  settlers  of  the  Willamette,  as  well 
as  on  the  Whitman  family  at  Waiilatpu,  which  re 
sulted  in  the  massacre  of  1847.  Great  excitement 
prevailed  over  all  the  country.  A  military  force  was 
organized,  and  the  dogs  of  war  were  let  loose ;  but  by 
the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  early  in  1848, 
avarice  gained  for  a  time  the  ascendency  over  revenge. 
The  hostile  tribes  were  visited  by  Governor  Lane  as 
soon  as  he  had  set  in  motion  the  machinery  of  his 
government  in  1849. 

Joseph  Lane  at  this  date  was  forty-eight  years  of 
age,  and  though  not  a  large  man,  possessed  a  strong 
constitution  and  a  tough  and  wiry  frame.  He  left 
his  parents'  home  in  North  Carolina,  at  the  age  of 
fifteen,  to  seek  his  fortune,  settled  in  Indiana,  and 
married  when  only  nineteen.  Then  followed  a  sharp 
but  brief  struggle  with  poverty,  which  his  thrift  and 
industry  quickly  overcame.  His  rare  gift  of  tongue 
soon  made  him  a  man  of  mark,  and  he  was  elected 
captain  of  the  local  militia.  This  distinction  spurred 
his  ambition,  and  he  devoted  all  his  spare  hours  to 
self-education,  studying  while  others  slept.  His  first 
business  venture  was  the  purchase  of  a  flat-boat  in 
which  he  carried  freight  on  the  Ohio.  While  still 
young  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature  of  Indiana, 
first  to  the  house  and  then  to  the  senate.  On  the 
outbreak  of  the  Mexican  war  he  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  the  2d  Indiana  volunteers,  and  when  the  regiment 
assembled,  was  chosen  its  colonel,  being  afterward 
commissioned  brigadier-general.  After  its  conclusion 
he  was  appointed  governor  of  Oregon. 


580  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

On  July  16th  the  first  territorial  legislature  as 
sembled  at  Oregon  City.  According  to  the  act  es 
tablishing  the  government,  it  consisted  of  nine  coun- 
cilmen  of  three  classes,  whose  terms  expired  with  the 
first,  second,  and  third  years  respectively,  and  eighteen 
members  of  the  house  of  representatives,  who  served 
for  one  year.  Provision,  however,  was  made  by  the 
law  for  an  increase  in  the  number  of  representatives 
from  time  to  time,  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of 
qualified  voters,  until  the  maximum  of  thirty  should 
be  reached. 

Lane's  suggestions  as  to  the  wants  of  the  territory 
were  practical.  The  most  important  of  bis  recom 
mendations  was  the  one  with  reference  to  the  expected 
donation  of  land,  for  which  a  memorial  was  made  to 
congress.  Other  requests  contained  in  the  memorial 
related  to  school  lands;  to  military  and  post  roads; 
the  extinction  of  Indian  titles,  and  the  removal  of 
the  natives  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  white  set 
tlements.  Attention  was  also  called  to  the  difficulties 
existing  between  American  citizens  and  the  Puget 
Sound  Agricultural  company,  the  boundaries  of  whose 
extensive  claim  were  undefined  and  imaginary.  The 
government  was  requested  to  purchase  the  lands 
rightfully  held  by  treaty  in  order  to  put  an  end  to 
disputes.  The  next  matter  attended  to  was  the  lay 
ing  out  of  the  judicial  districts.  It  was  decreed  that 
the  first  should  consist  of  Clackamas,  Marion,  and 
Linn  counties;  the  second  of  Benton,  Polk,  Yamhill, 
and  Washington;  and  the  third  of  Clarke,  Clatsop, 
and  Lewis.  On  September  29th  the  legislature 
adjourned. 

In  the  autumn  a  rifle  regiment  arrived  which  had 
been  enrolled  for  the  protection  of  Oregon.  It  had 
come  from  Fort  Leaven  worth,  and  numbered  about 
600  men,  with  thirty-one  commissioned  officers,  under 
the  command  of  Brevet-colonel  W.  W.  Loring.  Two 
posts  were  established  on  the  way,  one  at  the  fur- 
trading  station  of  Fort  Laramie,  and  another  called 


MILITARY  MATTERS.  581 

Cantonment  Loring,  three  miles  above  Fort  Hall  on 
Snake  river.  The  troops  were  quartered  in  Oregon 
City,  and  kept  there  at  great  expense  and  with  much 
disturbance  of  the  peace. 

Soon  after  Major  Hathaway  landed  his  artillery 
men,  Major  Ingalls  arrived  at  Vancouver  with  in 
structions  to  establish  military  posts  in  Oregon.  For 
the  erection  of  barracks  at  Vancouver,  Hathaway 
leased  land  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  company,  pending 
the  purchase  by  the  United  States  of  the  company's 
possessory  rights.  This  was  also  done  at  Fort 
Steilacoom,  where  Captain  Hill  established  himself 
in  August.  At  the  end  of  September,  General  Per- 
sifer  F.  Smith,  in  command  of  the  Pacific  division, 
arrived  in  Oregon  from  California  and  approved  of 
the  selections.  Smith  had  the  welfare  of  the  terri 
tory  at  heart,  and  made  many  excellent  recommenda 
tions  to  the  government. 

With  the  organization  of  the  territory,  and  the 
introduction  of  United  States  troops,  it  became  neces 
sary  to  appoint  government  reservations.  The  first 
one  selected  was  Miller  island  in  the  Columbia,  five 
miles  above  Vancouver.  This  reserve  was  declared 
in  February,  1850,  and  was  followed  by  others 
at  Vancouver,  the  Dalles,  and  Milwaukee,  on  the 
land  claims  of  Meek  and  Luelling.  This  appropria 
tion  of  property  gave  rise  to  much  complaint,  and  was 
resented  by  the  founders  of  Oregon  as  an  encroach 
ment  upon  their  rights. 

Ever  since  the  arrival  of  Governor  Lane  negotia 
tions  had  been  carried  on  for  the  voluntary  surrender 
of  the  Cayuse  murderers  by  their  tribe.  It  was 
clearly  represented  to  them  that  they  need  not  hope 
for  peace  and  friendship  until  the  guilty  parties  had 
been  given  up.  At  last  in  the  spring  of  1850  word 
was  received  that  such  of  the  culprits  as  were  not 
already  dead  would  be  delivered  at  the  Dalles.  Lane 
went  there  in  person  to  receive  them.  There  were 
five  in  all,  Tiloukaikt.  Tamahas,  Klokamas,  Isaiacha- 


582  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

lakis,  and  Kiamasumpkin.  On  May  22d  they  were 
tried  ac  Oregon  City,  the  prosecution  being  conducted 
by  Amory  Holbrook,  district  attorney.  The  trial 
lasted  two  days,  resulting  in  a  verdict  of  guilty. 
Sentence  of  death  was  passed  by  Judge  Pratt,  the 
3d  of  June  being  appointed  as  the  day  for  their  exe 
cution.  Catholic  priests  took  charge  of  the  spiritual 
affairs  of  the  condemned,  who  at  the  fatal  hour  met 
their  doom  with  true  Indian  stoicism.  Thus  justice, 
though  slow  of  foot,  pursued  to  their  destruction  the 
perpetrators  of  the  Whitman  massacre. 

The  first  delegate  to  congress  was  Samuel  R. 
Thurston,  who  was  elected  on  the  issue  of  the  anti- 
Hudson's  Bay  company  sentiment.  During  1849 
most  of  the  Canadian  voters  and  the  young  and  in 
dependent  western  men  were  absent.  This  opportunity 
was  not  lost  by  the  missionary  element,  which  returned 
their  democratic  candidate  by  a  large  majority  over 
his  whig  opponent  Nesmith. 

Thurston  was  a  native  of  Monmouth,  Maine,  and 
graduated  in  1843  from  Bowdoin  college,  after  which 
he  commenced  the  study  of  law  in  Brunswick,  where 
he  was  soon  admitted  to  practise.  A  natural  parti 
san,  he  became  an  ardent  democrat,  and  was  riot  only 
fearless  but  aggressive  in  his  career  as  a  political 
leader.  In  1845  he  removed  to  Burlington,  Iowa, 
where  he  edited  the  Burlington  Gazette  until  1847, 
when  he  migrated  to  Oregon.  He  was  a  man  of 
marked  ability,  gifted  with  great  power  of  language, 
with  ease  fully  commanding  his  audiences,  and  could, 
when  the  occasion  required  it,  be  eloquent  and  impres 
sive,  with  no  small  sprinkling  of  sarcasm  and  invective. 

When  in  congress  he  made  a  vigorous  attack  on 
the  possessory  right  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  company, 
and  introduced  a  number  of  resolutions  designed  for 
the  purpose  of  putting  an  end  to  the  company's 
very  existence  in  Oregon.  Indeed  from  first  to  last, 
whatever  may  have  been  his  motives,  whether  per 
sonal  or  patriotic,  he  acted  throughout  with  cease- 


SAMUEL  R.   THURSTON.  583 

less  hostility  to  every  interest  of  the  fur  company,  and 
to  every  individual  in  any  way  connected  with  it. 
He  worked  with  extraordinary  persistency,  and  with 
consummate  tact  and  diplomacy,  for  the  passage  of 
the  donation  land  law  in  such  a  form  as  would  ex 
clude  British  subjects  from  its  benefits,  and  deprive 
McLoughlin  of  his  claim  at  the  falls  of  the  Wil 
lamette. 

The  treatment  of  their  benefactor,  John  McLough 
lin,  by  the  pioneer  methodists  of  Oregon,  and  their 
partisans,  will  ever  remain  a  foul  blot  upon  their 
memory,  and  a  stain  on  their  religion.  McLoughlin 
died  September  3,  1857,  at  the  age  of  seventy -three 
years.  In  his  last  illness  the  unhappy  old  man  be 
trayed  the  bitterness  of  heart  which  his  enemies  had 
inspired  even  in  his  kindly  nature.  Shortly  before 
his  death  he  said  to  Grover,  then  a  young  man,  "  I 
shall  live  but  a  little  while  longer,  I  am  an  old  man 
and  dying,  and  you  are  a  young  man  and  will  live 
many  years  in  this  country.  As  for  me  I  might  bet 
ter  have  been  shot — I  might  better  have  been  shot 
forty  years  ago  1 "  then,  after  a  pause — "  than  to 
have  lived  here,  and  tried  to  build  up  a  family  and 
estate  under  this  government.  I  became  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States  in  good  faith.  I  planted  all  I  had 
here,  and  the  government  has  confiscated  my  prop 
erty."  He  then  requested  Grover  to  use  his  influ 
ence  to  obtain  the  property  for  his  children.  With 
tardy  justice  the  Oregon  legislature  finally  surrend 
ered  the  property  to  McLoughlin's  heirs,  thus  con 
firming  the  charge  of  injustice  upon  the  religionists 
who  despoiled  him 

Meanwhile,  Thurston,  though  reviled  in  the  public 
prints  toiled  on,  using  every  effort  to  win  favor  with 
the  people,  and  secure  his  reelection.  He  exerted  him 
self  to  save  Meek's  land  claim  from  being  made  a  gov 
ernment  reservation ;  he  secured  for  the  Pacific  coast  a 
postage  rate  uniform  with  that  of  the  Atlantic  states ; 
and  obtained  appropriations  for  Oregon  amounting  to 


584  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

$190,000,  of  which  sum  $100,000  were  for  the  expenses 
of  the  Cayuse  war.  Nevertheless,  a  reaction  was 
setting  in  and  all  generous-minded  men  began  to 
realize  that  there  were  others  who  could  represent  the 
public  interests  in  congress  without  disgracing  the 
country.  The  consequence  was  that  Lane  was 
brought  forward  as  an  opposing  candidate.  But  the 
hand  of  death  already  overshadowed  Thurston,  and 
screened  him  from  the  humiliation  of  defeat.  Eaten 
up  of  ambition,  his  health  had  long  been  failing,  and  as 
he  had  not  spared  himself,  ill  or  well,  he  rapidly  suc 
cumbed.  He  breathed  his  last  at  sea  on  board  the 
California  off  Acapulco,  on  his  return  to  Oregon,  be 
ing  then,  April  9,  1851,  thirty-five  years  of  age. 

The  successor  to  Governor  Lane  was  General  John 
P.  Gaines,  with  General  Edward  Hamilton  as  secre 
tary,  and  Strong,  judge  of  the  third  district.  He 
arrived  in  Oregon  August  15,  1850.  General  Gaines 
was  born  in  Augusta,  Virginia,  in  September,  1795, 
removing  in  early  youth  to  Boone  county,  Kentucky, 
which  state  he  represented  in  congress  from  1847  to 
1849.  He  volunteered  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  took 
part  in  several  engagements.  He  served  also  in  the 
Mexican  war  and  received  his  appointment  as  gov 
ernor  of  Oregon  on  his  return.  His  arrival  was  not 
very  welcome  to  the  democrats,  who  sincerely  re 
gretted  the  removal  of  Lane,  whom  Gaines  was  very 
dissimilar  to  in  character.  Phlegmatic  in  tempera 
ment,  he  was  fastidious  as  to  his  personal  surroundings, 
a  vain  and  narrow-minded  man,  pompous,  pretentious, 
and  jealous  of  his  dignity.  The  spirit  with  which  the 
democracy  received  this  whig  governor  was  ominous 
of  the  partisan  warfare  which  quickly  followed. 

When  the  legislature  met  on  December  2d,  the 
most  important  matter  decided  on  was  the  location  of 
the  capital,  which  was  the  subject  of  lively  contest, 
as  was  also  the  expenditure  of  the  appropriations  for 
the  erection  of  public  buildings.  After  a  warm  com- 


GOVERNORS  DAVIS  AND  CURRY.  585 

petition,  Salem  was  made  the  seat  of  the  government, 
Corvallis  was  given  the  university,  and  Portland  the 
penitentiary. 

Upon  the  death  of  Thurston,  Lane  was  made  dele 
gate.  The  question  of  location  of  the  capital  led  to 
the  organization  of  a  democratic  party  in  the  spring 
of  1852,  forcing  the  whigs  to  nominate  a  ticket.  In 
1850  congress  passed  an  act  extinguishing  Indian 
titles  west  of  the  Cascade  mountains,  and  appointed 
Anson  Dart,  of  Wisconsin,  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs.  Three  commissioners  were  appointed  to  make 
treaties,  Hostilities  broke  out  on  Rogue  river,  and 
the  Indians  were  punished  severely,  Gaines,  Lane, 
and  Kearney  figuring  in  the  affair. 

While  at  Washington  in  1853  Lane  was  again  ap 
pointed  governor  of  Oregon,  where  he  arrived  May 
16th.  He  soon  resigned  his  position,  however,  and 
was  again  returned  to  the  federal  capital  as  delegate. 
Late  in  October  intelligence  was  received  that  John 
W.  Davis,  of  Indiana,  had  been  appointed  governor. 
He  arrived  at  Salem  December  2d,  bringing  with  him 
$40,000  for  the  erection  of  a  capitol  and  penitentiary. 

Davis  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  where  he 
studied  medicine.  Having  settled  in  Indiana,  he 
served  in  the  legislature  of  that  state,  and  was  three 
times  elected  to  congress,  during  the  period  between 
1835  and  1847.  During  his  short  term  of  office, 
which  only  lasted  eight  months,  he  displayed  a  pru 
dence  and  discretion  in  his  relations  with  the  legisla 
ture  that  were  in  strong  contrast  with  the  officious 
interference  by  which  Gaines  had  so  much  offended 
that  body.  Davis  was  really  a  good  man  and  a 
democrat  withal;  yet  George  Law  Curry  stood  so 
high  in  the  estimation  of  the  people  of  Oregon,  that 
the  former  was  advised  to  resign,  in  order  that  the 
latter  might  be  appointed  governor.  This  he  did  in 
August  1854,  and  returned  to  the  east,  where  he  died 
about  five  years  later,  Curry  receiving  his  appoint 
ment  in  November  1855, 


586  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

The  legislature  of  1853-4  enacted  a  militia  law, 
constituting  Oregon  a  military  district,  and  requiring 
the  appointment  by  the  governor  of  a  brigadier-gen 
eral  and  other  officers.  Accordingly  in  April  1854, 
Governor  Davis  appointed  J.  W.  Nesmith  to  this 
position,  with  E.  M.  Barnum,  adjutant-general ; 
M.  M.  McCarver,  commissary -general ;  and  S.  C. 
Drew,  quartermaster-general.  The  business  of  the 
session  was,  in  the  main,  unimportant,  though  it  is 
worthy  of  remark  that  four  railroad  companies 
received  charters ;  but  as  the  time  was  not  yet  ripe 
for  the  construction  of  railways,  no  steps  were  taken 
to  carry  out  the  intentions  of  the  recipients. 

In  congress  Lane  was  successful  in  the  matter  of 
appropriations,  obtaining  money  for  the  expenses  of 
the  Rogue  river  war,  as  well  as  $10,000  to  continue 
the  military  road  from  Myrtle  creek  to  Scottsburg, 
and  $10,000  in  addition  to  a  former  appropriation  oi 
$15,000,  for  the  construction  of  a  light-house  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Umpqua. 

Governor  Curry  was  the  favorite  of  that  portion  ol 
the  democratic  party  known  as  the  Salem  clique. 
He  was  well  suited  to  the  position  in  which  he  was 
placed,  and  with  its  duties  his  experience  as  secretary 
had  made  him  fully  conversant.  He  was  a  Philadel- 
phian  by  birth,  but  his  father  dying  when  he  was 
only  eleven  years  old,  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  jeweler 
in  Boston,  finding  time  for  study  and  literary  pursuits, 
for  which  he  had  a  decided  taste.  In  1843,  being 
then  twenty -three  jTears  of  age,  he  removed  to  St 
Louis,  where,  with  other  literary  men,  he  published 
the  Reveille.  Curry  migrated  to  Oregon  in  1846. 
His  private  life  was  without  reproach,  and  his  habits 
were  those  of  a  man  of  letters.  His  public  career 
was  marked  by  liberality,  a  courteous  demeanor,  and 
sterling  probity  of  character.  After  living  to  see 
Oregon  develop  into  a  thriving  state,  he  died  July  28, 
1878.  Such  was  the  man  chosen  to  be  governor  of 


JOEL  PALMER.  587 

Oregon  during:  the  remainder  of  her  territorial  exist- 

O  ^ 

ence,  the  most  trying  period  of  her  history. 

Early  in  April  1855  Lane  returned  to  Oregon  and 
was  again  elected  delegate  by  the  democrats,  notwith 
standing  that  the  whigsand  know-nothings  had  united 
against  the  democracy,  with  ex-Governor  Gaines  as 
their  candidate.  The  native  American  party  was 
largely  made  up  of  the  missionary  and  anti-Hudson's 
Bay  company  factions,  which  now  took  the  opportunity 
furnished  by  the  rise  of  the  new  party,  to  express 
their  long-cherished  antipathies  toward  the  foreign 
element.  Their  intemperate  denunciations,  however, 
of  foreign-born  settlers  and  the  catholic  religion 
made  them  odious  to  right-thinking  people,  and  the 
democratic  party  did  not  fail  to  give  utterance  to  their 
honest  disgust  at  the  bigotry  and  cant  with  which 
their  principles  were  promulgated. 

In  October  1854  Indian  superintendent  Joel 
Palmer,  who  had  succeeded  Dart,  was  able  to  inform 
the  natives  of  southern  Oregon  that  congress  had  rati 
fied  the  treaties  m^le  at  the  close  of  the  war  of  1853, 
and  by  February  1,  1855,  all  lands  between  the  Co 
lumbia  and  the  Calapooya  mountains,  and  between  the 
sea-coast  and  Cascade  ranges,  had  been  purchased  for 
the  United  States,  the  Indians  agreeing  to  remove  to 
other  localities  which  were  to  be  selected  for  them. 
The  reservation  finally  selected  was  the  country  lying 
west  of  the  Coast  range. 

No  attempt  had  as  yet  been  made  to  treat  with  the 
Indians  east  of  the  Cascade  mountains  for  the  pur 
chase  of  their  lands,  but  in  this  year  Governor  Ste 
vens  of  Washington  Territory,  and  Palmer,  who  had 
been*  appointed  commissioners  by  congress,  made 
treaties  with  the  Nez  Perces,  Yakimas,  Cayuses, 
Walla  Wallas,  and  Umatillas.  Separate  reservations 
were  assigned  to  the  Nez  Perces  and  Yakimas,  while 
the  Cayuses,  Walla  Wallas,  and  Umatillas  were  col 
lected  on  one  reservation  in  the  beautiful  Umatilla 
country.  Palmer  then  treated  with  the  John  Day, 


\*  GOVERNMENT-OREGON, 

Des  Chutes,  and  Wascopan  Indians,  purchasing  all 
the  lands  lying  between  the  summit  of  the  Cascade 
range  and  Powder  river,  and  between  the  44th  parallel 
and  the  Columbia.  A  reservation  was  set  apart  for 
these  tribes  at  the  base  of  the  Cascade  mountains,  di 
rectly  east  of  mount  Jefferson.  Although  the  super 
intendent  hoped  that  at  last  he  had  procured  peace  for 
Oregon,  war  was  again  brewing  before  midsummer, 
1855,  in  the  southern  part  of  Oregon,  tribes  of  the 
Rogue  river  nation  being  the  immediate  cause. 

Hard-contested  battles  were  fought,  in  which  the 
natives  were  generally  defeated,  though  the  Ameri 
cans  had  not  always  cause  for  congratulation.  Fresh 
troops  were  called  into  the  field  by  proclamation  of 
Governor  Curry,  and  a  large  force  of  regulars  ap 
peared  upon  the  scene.  General  Wool  visited  Ore 
gon  and  organized  a  campaign,  and  the  war  was 
bitterly  carried  on  under  the  active  operations  of  gen 
erals  Lamerick  and  Ord.  The  volunteer  companies 
were  not  idle  meantime,  and  a  multiplicity  of  battles 
was  the  result  of  their  eager  pursuit  of  the  foe. 

The  last  important  conflict  occurred  May  27th  and 
28th,  Captain  Smith  in  command  of  Fort  Lane, 
which  had  been  established  near  Table  rock,  with 
eighty  men,  dragoons  and  infantry,  being  furiously  as 
sailed  by  Chief  John  on  the  bank  of  the  Illinois,  a 
branch  of  Rogue  river.  But  for  the  timely  arrival 
of  Captain  Augur,  Smith's  command  would  probably 
have  been  annihilated.  As  it  was,  he  lost  twenty- 
four  men  in  killed  and  wounded,  and  Augur  two  men 
killed  and  three  wounded,  making  a  total  loss  of 
twenty-nine. 

Superintendent  Palmer  labored  hard  for  the  public 
good,  and  during  his  term  of  office  removed  from  the 
Willamette  valley  about  4,000  Indians.  Neverthe 
less,  being  of  the  American  party,  no  matter  how 
honestly  and  conscientiously  he  worked,  he  could  not 
please  the  democratic  legislature,  which  in  the  spring 
of  1856  petitioned  for  his  removal.  He  was  suc- 


STATE  ORGANIZATION.  589 

ceeded  by  A.  F.  Hedges,  an  immigrant  of  1843. 
Palmer  ran  for  governor  of  Oregon  in  1870,  but  was 
defeated  by  L.  F.  Grover.  He  died  in  1879  at  his 
home  in  Dayton. 

Very  little  business  was  transacted  by  the  legisla 
ture  of  1855-6,  but  during  the  latter  year  republican 
sentiments  grew  apace,  and  when  the  assembly  met 
in  December,  though  it  was  still  largely  democratic, 
there  were  enough  opposition  members  to  infuse  life 
into  the  new  movement  which  had  been  inaugurated 
to  exclude  slavery  from  a  free  territory.  Another 
question  which  was  evidently  destined  to  arouse  a 
close  contest  was  the  exclusion  of  free  negroes  from 
Oregon.  At  this  session  an  act  was  again  passed  to 
take  the  sense  of  the  people  with  regard  to  the  hold 
ing  of  a  constitutional  convention. 

Republican  clubs  continued  to  be  formed,  and  on 
February  11,  1857,  a  convention  was  held  at  Albany, 
and  the  free  state  republican  party  of  Oregon  was  or 
ganized,  the  main  principles  of  which  were  announced 
to  be  :  the  perpetuity  of  the  American  union  ;  resist 
ance  to  the  extension  of  slavery  in  free  territory ;  the 
prohibition  of  polygamy ;  the  admission  of  Oregon 
into  the  union  only  as  a  free  state  ;  and  the  necessity 
of  all  honest  men,  irrespective  of  party,  uniting  to  se 
cure  the  adoption  of  a  free  state  constitution  in  Or 
egon. 

In  conformity  with  the  instructions  of  the  legisla 
ture,  Lane  had  brought  before  congress  a  bill  for  the 
admission  of  Oregon  into  the  union,  and  in  the  session 

O  7 

of  1856-7  a  bill  authorizing  the  people  to  form  a  con 
stitution  and  state  government  passed  the  lower 
house,  but  failed  in  the  senate.  Such  was  the  posi 
tion  of  affairs  in  the  spring  of  1857,  the  territory 
being  half  admitted  as  a  state. 

In  June  1857  was  held  the  most  important  election 
that  hitherto  occurred.  The  people  were  now  called 
upon  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  state,  and  decide 
upon  matters  affecting  the  interests  of  the  common- 


590  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

wealth  for  all  time.  Lane  was  again  returned  dele 
gate  to  congress,  defeating  the  free-soil  democrat,  G. 
W.  Lawson,  supported  by  the  republican  party  ;  and 
7,617  votes  were  cast  in  favor  of  a  constitutional  con 
vention,  with  1,679  against  it. 

The  convention  assembled  August  17th  at  Salem, 
and  continued  in  session  four  weeks.  More  than  one- 
third  of  the  delegates  were  republican,  but  the  de 
bates  on  all  subjects  were  conducted  with  fairness 
and  deliberation.  With  regard  to  the  all-important 
questions  of  slavery  and  the  admission  of  free  negroes, 
it  was  agreed  to  leave  their  decision  to  the  people. 
Most  of  the  provisions  of  the  constitution  framed  by 
this  convention  were  wise  and  politic,  though  a  little 
more  liberality  might  have  been  displayed  with  re 
gard  to  the  immigration  of  white  aliens,  which  the 
legislature  was  granted  the  power  to  control,  and  also 
to  the  status  of  negroes,  mulattoes,  and  Chinamen, 
who  were  excluded  from  the  right  of  suffrage. 

On  November  9th  the  people  decided  at  the  polls 
upon  the  constitution  and  the  other  questions.  About 
10,400  votes  were  polled.  The  vote  on  the  constitu 
tion  resulted  in  a  majority  of  3,980  in  favor  of  its 
adoption.  Against  slavery  there  was  a  majority  of 
5,082,  and  against  the  admission  of  free  negroes  into 
the  territory  one  of  7,559  votes.  The  fact  is  that 
the  democrats,  when  they  found  that  they  could  not 
have  the  negro  among  them  as  a  slave,  were  deter 
mined  that  they  would  not  have  him  at  all. 

The  legislature  of  1857-8  labored  under  the  dis 
advantage  of  not  knowing  how  to  conform  its  pro 
ceedings  to  the  will  of  the  general  government. 
Although  not  yet  admitted  into  the  union,  a  portion 
of  the  members  were  in  favor  of  regarding  their  as 
sembly  as  a  state  body.  After  the  transaction  of 
some  miscellaneous  business,  the  legislature  adjourned 
December  19th,  to  meet  again  on  January  5,  1858. 

In  anticipation  of  admission  to  statehood,  at  the 
June  election  of  that  year  a  state  legislature  and 


PROMINENT  OFFICIALS.  591 

government  officers  were  chosen.  There  were  three 
parties  in  the  field,  the  Oregon  democrats,  the  national 
democrats,  and  the  republicans,  the  thorough  organi 
zation  of  the  first-named  faction  securing  for  it  the 
victory.  L.  F.  Grover  was  elected  state  representa 
tive  to  congress ;  John  Whiteaker  governor ;  Lucien 
Heath  secretary ;  J.  D.  Boon  treasurer;  and  Asabel 
Bush  state  printer.  The  district  judges  chosen  were 
Deady,  Stratton,  Boise,  and  Wait.  The  only  repub 
lican  elected  was  Mitchell,  prosecuting  attorney  for 
the  2d  district,  A.  C.  Gibbs,  H.  Jackson,  D.  W. 
Douthitt,  and  B.  Hayden  being  those  chosen  for  the 
1st.  3rd,  4th,  and  5th  districts.  The  state  legislature 
consisted  of  twenty -nine  democrats  and  five  republi 
cans  in  the  lower  house,  and  twelve  democrats  and 
four  republicans  in  the  senate.  According  to  the  re 
quirements  of  the  constitution,  the  state  legislature 
met  July  5th  and  chose  Joseph  Lane  and  Delazon 
Smith  United  States  senators.  On  the  8th  Governor 
Whiteaker  was  inaugurated,  Judge  Boise  administer 
ing  the  oath. 

Oregon  had  placed  herself  in  an  anomalous  position, 
for  in  four  weeks'  time  it  became  known  that  she  had 
not  been  admitted.  It  was,  therefore,  determined 
not  to  hold  the  September  term  of  the  state  legisla 
ture,  and  as  the  territorial  administration  must  con 
tinue  during  the  suspension  of  the  state  government, 
the  usual  session  of  the  legislature  was  held  in  De 
cember  and  January.  Little  business,  however,  was 
transacted,  beyond  amending  a  few  previous  acts,  and 
preparing  memorials  to  congress,  with  petitions  re 
specting  roads,  the  mail  service,  and  other  matters. 
On  January  22d  the  assembly  adjourned. 

The  admission  of  Oregon  was  warmly  agitated  in 
congress,  and  the  democratic  party,  aided  by  certain 
republicans,  finally  succeeded  in  securing  the  passage  of 
the  enabling  bill  on  February  12,  1859,  the  president 
approving  it  on  the  14th,  on  which  day  Lane  and 
Smith  presented  their  credentials  to  the  senate,  and 


592  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

were  sworn  in,  the  seat  of  the  latter  becoming  vacant 
in  less  than  a  month.  Thus  Oregon  was  at  last  en 
throned  as  a  sovereign  state,  the  news  of  which  event 
arrived  toward  the  close  of  March. 

The  congressional  act  of  March  3,  1859,  extending 
the  laws  and  judicial  system  of  the  United  States  over 
Oregon,  provided  for  the  appointment  of  one  United 
States  judge,  Matthew  P.  Deady  being  chosen  to  fill 
that  office.  His  former  position  as  district  judge  was 
filled  by  P.  P.  Prim.  As  it  was  uncertain  whether 
the  decisions  of  the  district  judges  would  be  valid 
under  the  act  passed  by  the  state  legislature  before 
the  admission  of  Oregon,  on  May  16th  Governor 
Whiteaker  convened  the  legislature,  which  proceeded 
to  complete  the  state  organization  and  regulate  the 
judiciary.  Having  passed  a  few  acts,  one  of  which 
called  for  a  special  election  to  be  held  June  27th  for 
the  choice  of  a  representative  to  congress,  the  legis 
lature  adjourned. 

On  the  21st  of  April  of  this  year  the  republicans 
met  in  convention,  and  having  brought  forward  their 
platform,  proceeded  to  ballot  for  a  representative  to 
congress,  David  Logan  receiving  a  majority  of  votes. 
The  democratic  nominee  was  Lansing  Stout,  who  at 
the  election  defeated  Logan  by  only  sixteen  votes — a 
result  which  astonished  both  parties,  and  clearly  in 
dicated  the  waning  influence  of  the  democracy. 

According  to  the  provisions  of  the  state  constitu 
tion,  the  legislature  and  state  officers  were  to  be 
elected  biennially,  on  the  first  Monday  in  June.  As 
the  first  election  was  held  in  1858,  the  next  could  not 
take  place  before  June  1860.  At  that  election 
George  K.  Sheil  was  chosen  representative  to  con 
gress,  defeating  Logan,  who  was  again  the  republican 
candidate,  by  104  votes. 

The  candidates  for  the  senatorships  were  Delazon 
Smith  and  Lane,  democrats;  Judge  Williams  and  J. 
W.  Nesmith,  independents;  and  E.  P.  Baker,  repub- 


JOSEPH   LANE.  593 

lican.  The  democrats  soon  realized  the  fact  that  they 
would  be  unable  to  upturn  two  senators  without  ac 
cepting  Smith,  who  had  fallen  into  great  disfavor 
through  his  adherence  to  Lane,  who  was  already  de 
throned  in  public  opinion.  Indeed,  the  legislature 
of  1859  had  preferred  to  leave  Smith's  seat  vacant 
rather  than  re-appoint  him.  Accordingly,  Nesmith 
and  Baker  were  elected,  the  latter  for  the  short  term. 

Joseph  Lane  was  aspiring  to  the  presidency  of  the 
United  States,  and  blinded  by  partisan  zeal  and  the 
flattery  of  southern  men,  staked  everything  on  the 
desperate  hazard  of  being  nominated  at  the  national 
convention  to  be  held  at  Charleston  in  1860.  At  the 
same  time  he  lent  himself  to  an  unscrupulous  scheme 
said  to  be  entertained  by  the  senators  of  the  Pacific 
coast,  which  was  to  establish  a  slave-holding  republic, 
similar  to  the  ancient  republic  of  Venice,  the  plan, 
while  it  provided  for  an  elective  executive,  vesting  all 
power  in  hereditary  nobles.  Universal  suffrage  was 
to  be  repudiated,  and  labor  was  to  be  performed  by 
persons  of  the  dark  races,  who,  being  invited  to  Cali 
fornia,  were  to  be  reduced  to  slavery.  The  discovery 
of  this  plot  caused  mingled  indignation  and  alarm. 

When  the  news  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Charles 
ton  convention,  of  the  secession  of  the  extreme  south 
ern  states,  and  their  nomination  of  Lane  to  the  vice- 
presidency,  reached  Oregon,  a  strong  revulsion  of 
feeling  set  in  among  all  of  the  democratic  party  who 
were  not  strongly  pro-slavery  in  principle.  Slowly 
and  reluctantly  the  people  realized  that  Joseph  Lane 
had  betrayed  them.  Before  November  6th  intelli 
gence  arrived  of  great  republican  victories  in  the 
north  and  west,  and  on  that  day  the  vote  was  cast 
for  president.  By  the  9th  it  became  certain  that  the 
state  had  gone  republican.  On  December  5th  the 
republican  presidential  electors,  T.  J.  Dryer,  W.  H. 
Watkins,  and  B.  J.  Pengra  met  at  Salem  and  cast 
the  electoral  vote  for  Lincoln,  Dryer  being  appointed 
to  carry  the  news  to  Washington, 

C.  B.— II.    38 


594  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

Tidings  of  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter  did  not  reach 
Oregon  until  April  30,  1861.  ^By  the  same  steamer 
which  brought  intelligence  of  the  breaking  out  of  hos 
tilities,  Lane  arrived  and  met  with  a  fitting  reception. 
At  Portland  indignities  were  heaped  upon  him,  while 
at  Dallas  he  was  hanged  in  effigy.  He  retired  into 
obscurity,  living  for  many  years  on  a  mountain  farm 
with  but  a  single  servant.  In  1878,  at  the  persua 
sion  of  his  children,  he  removed  to  Rosebury,  Doug 
las  county,  and  being  heartily  welcomed,  in  1880,  at 
the  age  of  seventy-nine  years,  nominated  himself  for 
state  senator,  but  was  somewhat  rudely  rejected  and 
reproved.  He  did  not  long  survive  this  rebuff,  which 
moved  the  aged  politician  to  tears.  His  death  oc 
curred  in  May  of  the  following  year. 

The  first  telegraphic  despatches  transmitted  across 
the  continent,  conveyed  the  intelligence  that  E.  D. 
Baker,  Oregon's  republican  senator,  had  fallen  at  the 
battle  of  Ball  Bluff,  on  October  21,  1861.  Baker 
was  an  Englishman  by  birth,  being  born  in  London, 
in  1811.  When  five  years  of  age  he  came  to  Amer 
ica,  where  he  learned  cabinet-making,  and  afterward 
studied  law  in  Carrollton,  Illinois.  For  ten  years  he 
was  a  member  of  the  legislature  of  that  state,  and  in 
1845  was  elected  representative  in  congress.  During 
the  war  with  Mexico  he  fought  under  Taylor  on  the 
Rio  Grande,  and  later  was  present  at  the  capture  of 
Vera  Cruz  and  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo,  where  he 
took  command  of  General  Shields'  division,  after  that 
officer  was  seriously  wounded.  In  1852  he  arrived  in 
California,  where  he  practised  law,  and  thence  removed 
to  Oregon. 

Baker's  vacant  seat  in  the  senate  was  filled  by  the 
appointment  of  Benjamin  Stark,  by  Governor  White- 
aker.  Stark's  disloyal  proclivities  caused  the  senate 
to  hesitate  before  admitting  him,  and  after  he  had 
been  allowed  to  take  the  oath  of  office  in  February 
1862,  he  was  finally  impeached.  He  was  not  ex 
pelled,  however,  as  his  term  ended  with  the  meeting 


ADDISON  C.   GIBBS.  595 

of  the  Oregon  legislature  in  September.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Benjamin  F.  Harding,  who  was  sworn 
in  when  congress  met  in  December  of  that  year. 

By  an  order  in  September  1858  the  Pacific  coast 
was  divided  into  the  departments  of  California  and 
Oregon,  the  latter  under  the  command  of  General  W. 
S.  Harney,  with  headquarters  at  Vancouver.  This 
change  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  people  at  Van 
couver,  and  Harney  made  himself  at  once  popular  by 
opening  the  Walla  Walla  valley  to  settlement,  that 
section  having  been  closed  since  1855.  During  the 
following  summer  about  2,000  settlers  took  up  claims 
in  this  and  the  Umatilla  valleys. 

In  1859  the  Snake  river  Indians  began  to  be  trou 
blesome,  attacking  immigrants  and  committing  depre 
dations  on  the  reserves  of  the  treaty  Indians,  and  in 
the  spring  of  1860  two  joint  expeditions  were  sent  into 
the  country  traversed  by  the  predatory  bands,  under 
the  direction  of  Major  E.  Steen.  With  the  exception, 
however,  of  diverting  the  attention  of  the  hostile  na 
tives  from  the  immigrants  of  that  year,  he  accom 
plished  nothing,  the  Indians  successfully  eluding  him. 
In  September  the  companies  were  distributed  among 
the  several  posts,  but  no  sooner  were  they  settled  in 
their  quarters  than  Major  Grier,  in  command  at  Fort 
Walla  Walla,  was  notified  by  the  Indian  agent  on  the 
Umatilla,  that  between  Salmon  Falls  and  Fort  Boise 
about  fifty  persons  had  been  killed,  or  scattered 
throughout  that  desolate  region  to  perish  of  star 
vation. 

Before  the  conclusion  of  the  civil  war  fortifications 
were  erected  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  one  on 
Point  Adams  on  the  south  side  of  the  entrance, 
named  Fort  Stevens,  after  General  Stevens,  who  fell 
at  the  battle  of  Chantilly,  and  another  on  Cape  Dis 
appointment,  on  the  north  side,  which,  in  1874,  was 
called  Fort  Canby,  in  honor  of  General  Canby,  who 
was  assassinated  by  the  Modocs  in  the  war  of  1 872-3. 


596  GOVERNMENT-OREGON. 

In  1862  the  republicans  carried  the  election  of  all 
their  principal  candidates  by  a  large  majority,  Addi- 
son  C.  Gibbs  being  chosen  governor.  Benjamin  F. 
Harding  was  elected  senator  in  September,  to  succeed 
Stark,  whose  term  would  soon  expire.  During  the 
administration  of  Gibbs  many  important  matters  were 
subjects  of  legislation.  The  legislature  of  1864  passed 
a  specific-contract  law,  which  provided  that  no  money 
could  be  paid  in  satisfaction  of  a  judgment  other  than 
the  kind  specified  in  such  judgment,  and  that  gold 
and  silver  coins  of  the  United  States  should  be  re 
ceived  at  their  nominal  values  in  payment  of  every 
judgment,  decree,  or  execution.  At  a  special  session 
in  1865  another  law  was  enacted  which  removed  every 
impediment  to  the  exclusive  use  of  metallic  currency. 
In  1862  an  act  was  passed  for  the  location  of  the 
lands  donated  to  the  state  by  congress,  amounting  to 
nearly  700,000  acres,  Governor  Gibbs  being  appointed 
commissioner  to  locate  such  lands  and  designate  the 
purposes  to  which  they  should  be  applied.  The 
boundary  line,  moreover,  between  Oregon  and  Wash 
ington,  on  the  46th  parallel,  from  the  bend  in  the 
Columbia  to  Snake  river  was  surveyed;  and  much 
was  done  to  further  the  construction  of  public  roads. 
A  code  of  civil  procedure  was  prepared  by  a  commis 
sion  consisting  of  Deady,  Gibbs,  and  Kelly,  and  ac 
cepted  in  1864;  in  1866  Chinese  miners  were  required 
to  pay  a  license  of  four  dollars  per  quarter. 

The  amendments  to  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States  abolishing  slavery  and  extending  the  right  of 
suffrage  to  Africans  naturally  interfered  with  the 
laws  of  Oregon  against  negroes.  The  amendments, 
however,  were  adopted  by  joint  resolution  December 
11,  1865,  and  the  clauses  of  the  constitution  of  Ore 
gon,  discriminating  against  the  negro  as  a  citizen  of 
the  state,  were  rendered  void.  Governor  Gibbs'  term 
of  office  expiring  in  1866,  George  L.  Woods  was 
chosen  at  the  election  of  that  year  to  succeed  him,  de 
feating  James  K.  Kelly,  a  democrat  of  the  old  school. 


MILITARY  MEN.  597 

In  1865  life  in  Oregon  was  unsafe  on  account  of 
the  Indian  raids,  and  early  in  the  spring  the  troops 
were  called  upon  to  take  the  field.  Colonel  Curry 
had  succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  military  dis 
trict  of  Columbia,  owing  to  the  death  of  General 
Wright,  who  was  drowned  while  en  route  to  Van 
couver  to  assume  the  command,  the  steamer  Brother 
Jonathan,  on  which  he  had  taken  passage,  foundering 
at  sea.  Curry  distributed  the  troops  at  nine  differ 
ent  camps  scattered  over  western  Idaho  and  eastern 
Oregon,  but  for  all  this  precaution  the  country  still 
suffered  from  depredations. 

Before  Curry's  plan  for  a  winter  campaign  could 
be  tested,  orders  were  received  to  muster  out  the  vol 
unteers,  and  by  June,  1866,  the  whole  of  that  force 
was  disbanded  with  the  exception  of  company  B  of 
the  1st  Oregon  cavalry,  and  company  I,  1st  Oregon 
infantry.  In  February  of  that  year  Major-general 
Steele  took  command  of  the  department  of  the  Co 
lumbia,  with  no  better  success  than  his  predecessor. 
All  through  the  summer  the  ubiquitous  Indians  con 
tinued  their  depredations,  attacking  lonely  houses, 
driving  off  the  horses  and  cattle  of  the  stock-raisers 
and  of  the  stage-lines  and  transportation  companies, 
murdering  white  men,  and  killing  Chinamen,  between 
fifty  and  sixty  of  whom  were  slaughtered  at  Battle 
creek  in  May.  Having  struck  their  blow  the  raiders 
generally  succeeded  in  escaping  with  their  booty  to 
some  secure  retreat. 

In  the  autumn  General  Halleck,  in  command  of 
the  division  of  the  Pacific,  visited  eastern  Oregon 
going  to  Fort  Boise;  but  travelling  with  an  escort 
on  the  well-protected  Chico  route,  at  a  time  when  the 
Indians  were  occupied  in  gathering  seeds  and  roots 
for  their  winter  supply,  he  saw  nothing  to  cause  ap 
prehension.  On  October  7th  a  joint  resolution  was 
passed  by  the  legislature  to  the  effect  that,  if  the 
general  government  did  not  send  troops  for  the  pro 
tection  of  eastern  Oregon  within  thirty  days  from 


598  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

that  date,  the  governor  should   call  out  a  sufficient 
number  of  volunteers  for  that  purpose. 

As  the  year  drew  to  a  close  Lieutenant-colonel 
George  Crook  was  ordered  to  relieve  Major  Marshall 
who  was  in  command  of  the  Boise  district.  All  the 
most  efficient  officers  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  most  favorable  time  to  fight  the  Indians  was  dur 
ing  the  winter.  About  the  middle  of  December 
Crook  took  the  field,  and  during  the  succeeding  cam 
paigns,  which  were  continued  into  midsummer  of 
1867,  he  inflicted  several  severe  blows  upon  the 
Shoshones.  In  these  successes  he  was  greatly  aided 
by  two  companies  of  Indian  allies,  each  fifty  strong, 
which  had  been  organized  by  Governor  Wood  with 
the  permission  of  the  general  government. 

In  August  1867  some  changes  were  made  in  mili 
tary  dispositions,  and  Crook  was  assigned  to  the  dis 
trict  of  the  lakes,  comprising  Fort  Klamath,  and 
camps  Watson,  Warner,  Logan,  and  Harney.  In  the 
last  days  of  September,  Crook  engaged  the  enemy 
after  a  difficult  march  of  four  weeks,  storming  an 
almost  impregnable  stronghold  on  high  lava  bluffs 
overlooking  the  south  branch  of  Pit  river  in  Califor 
nia.  Though  he  succeeded  in  dislodging  the  enemy 
after  some  hard  fighting,  the  Indians  effected  their  es 
cape  by  subterranean  passages.  The  great  extent  of  the 
fissures  and  caverns  made  it  too  dangerous  to  attempt 
an  examination  of  them,  and  on  the  30th  Crook  moved 
toward  Camp  Warner,  where  he  arrived  October  4th. 

On  November  23d  Steele  relinquished  the  com 
mand  of  the  department  of  the  Columbia,  and  was 
succeeded  by  General  L.  H.  Rousseau.  Steele  was  a 
graduate  of  West  Point,  had  served  under  Scott  in 
Mexico,  and  was  twice  promoted  for  gallant  conduct. 
During  the  civil  war  his  services  were  similarly  recog 
nized,  and  at  its  conclusion  he  held  the  rank  of  brevet 
major-general.  On  leaving  Oregon  he  was  granted 
an  extended  leave  of  absence,  but  shortly  afterward 
died  suddenly  of  apoplexy  in  San  Francisco. 


CROOK  AND  CAPTAIN  JACK.  599 

All  through  the  winter  of  1867-8  the  desultory 
warfare  was  continued,  the  Indians,  however,  being 
continually  harassed,  until,  finally,  the  principal 
chiefs  sued  for  peace.  On  June  30,  1868  a  council 
was  held,  at  which  Crook  made  his  own  terms.  "Do 
you  see  any  fewer  soldiers  than  you  did  two  years 
ago?"  he  asked.  "No;  there  are  more,"  was  the 
reply.  "  Have  you  as  many  warriors?"  "No;  not 
half  so  many."  "  Very  well;"  said  Crook,  "that  is 
as  I  mean  to  have  it  until  you  are  all  gone." 

While  the  Shoshone  war  was  in  progress,  trouble 
was  brewing  on  the  boundary  question  with  Califor- 
fomia.  Ever  since  Fremont's  exploration,  the  Mo- 
docs  and  their  head  chief,  Sconchin,  had  proved  them 
selves  implacable  enemies  of  the  white  race,  and  had 
made  themselves  a  redoubtable  foe  of  the  latter.  In 
1864,  however,  E.  Steele,  Indian  superintendent  of 
California,  made  a  treaty  with  this  chieftain,  then 
an  old  man,  and  also  with  Captain  Jack ;  the  former 
observed  the  conditions  faithfully,  living  within  the 
limits  of  the  reservation ;  but  the  latter  could  not  be 
kept  thereon.  Indian  superintendent  Huntington 
died  in  1868,  and  was  succeeded  by  A.  B.  Meacham, 
who,  in  December  1869,  induced  the  refractory  chief 
to  come  upon  the  reservation.  But  in  the  following 
spring  Captain  Jack  resumed  his  roaming  life,  and 
for  two  summers  his  followers  ranged  up  and  down 
among  the  scattered  farms,  visiting  the  houses  in  the 
absence  of  the  men,  frightening  women,  and  commit 
ting  various  outrages. 

In  1870  General  Crook  was  relieved  by  General 
E.  R.  S.  Canby,  and  sent  to  fight  the  Indians  of 
Arizona,  for  which  purpose  the  military  posts  in 
Oregon  were  almost  depleted.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  Captain  Jack  became  still  more  defiant.  He 
frequently  visited  the  reservation,  boldly  declaring 
that  he  intended  to  go  where  he  pleased,  and  finally 
killed  an  Indian  medicine  man  because  he  failed  to 
save  the  lives  of  two  members  of  his  family.  Attempts 


600  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

to  arrest  him  failed  through  the  interference  of  influen 
tial  white  friends  in  Yreka,  where  Jack  was  accustom 
ed  to  indulge  in  dissipation.  Negotiations  likewise 
failed ;  conferences  were  useless  ;  and  it  was  finally 
decided  that  force  must  be  used. 

After  committing  more  depredations,  Jack  took  up 
his  position  in  the  lava  beds,  where  he  was  beseiged 
by  a  united  force  of  regulars  and  volunteers.  Through 
subterfuge  he  obtained  a  conference  with  representa 
tives  of  the  government  and  people,  at  which  General 
Canby  and  E.  Thomas  were  treacherously  slain,  and 
Superintendent  Meacham  wounded.  There  was  no 
more  talk  of  peace  after  this ;  Jack  and  his  band  were 
hunted  to  their  death. 

The  political  status  of  the  people  during  the  trying 
period  of  Indian  warfare  gradually  underwent  a 
change  until  the  democratic  party  gained  the  ascen 
dency.  This  was  owing  to  the  immigration  of  south 
erners  after  the  conclusion  of  the  civil  war.  In  1866 
Rufus  Mallory,  republican  candidate  for  representa 
tive  to  congress,  defeated  his  opponent  by  a  majority 
of  only  600  votes ;  but  in  1868  David  Logan,  repub 
lican,  was  beaten  by  Joseph  S.  Smith,  democrat,  by 
1,200  votes.  In  the  same  year,  also,  the  democracy 
had  acquired  its  former  dominancy  in  the  legislature, 
there  being  nearly  twice  as  many  democrats  in  both 
houses  as  there  were  republicans. 

In  1870  the  party  again  displayed  its  ascendency, 
by  the  election  of  L.  F.  Grover  as  governor.  Grover 
had  been  president  of  the  democratic  organization  of 
the  state  ever  since  1864  ;  he  was  reflected  governor 
in  1874,  defeating  J.  C.  Tolman,  republican,  by  a 
small  majority.  In  1876  he  was  chosen  United 
States  senator,  defeating  Jesse  Applegate,  and 
in  February  1877,  having  resigned  the  governor 
ship,  took  his  seat  in  the  United  States  senate, 
S.  F.  Chadwick  succeeding  to  the  gubernatorial 
office. 


L.  F.  GROVER  AND  W.  W.  THAYER.  601 

When  Grover  assumed  office  the  financial  condition 
of  the  state  was  so  prosperous,  that  the  treasury  con 
tained  funds  sufficient  to  defray  the  expenses  of  all 
the  departments  of  government  for  the  next  two 
years,  less  about  $6,000.  During  his  term  various 
measures  were  adopted,  all  important  to  the  welfare 
of  the  state ;  an  agricultural  college  was  established, 
as  also  a  university,  and  provisions  were  made  for  the 
construction  of  a  state  capitol.  These  and  other  pro 
gressive  measures  made  Grover's  administration  popu 
lar,  while  the  Modoc  war,  which  occurred  during  his 
term  of  office,  gave  to  it  additional  eclat.  The  im 
provement  in  the  affairs  of  the  government  was  sub 
stantial  and  noteworthy,  and  at  a  later  date  credit 
was  willingly  conceded  to  the  administration,  the 
course  of  which  had  been  temporarily  clouded  by 
unfounded  charges  and  complaints.  A  full  description 
of  the  governor's  administration  and  career  will  be 
found  in  a  later  chapter  of  this  volume. 

In  1878  the  republicans  again  failed  to  elect  their 
candidate,  C.  C.  Beekman,  who  was  defeated  by  W. 
W.  Thayer.  During  Thayer's  term,  the  state  debt 
was  entirely  liquidated,  and  the  financial  condition  of 
the  state  rendered  sound  and  healthy.  The  new 
governor,  a  native  of  Lima,  New  York,  was  admitted 
to  the  bar  at  Rochester,  in  March  1851.  In  1862  he 
went  to  Oregon,  removing  in  the  following  year  to 
Idaho,  attracted  by  the  ruining  excitement,  and  there 
became  a  member  of  the  legislature,  returning  in 
1867,  when  he  settled  in  East  Portland  and  formed 
a  law-partnership  with  Richard  Williams. 

At  last  in  1882  the  republicans  again  came  to  the 
front,  electing  Z.  F.  Moody  as  governor  over  Joseph 
H.  Smith,  by  a  majority  of  1,452  votes,  and  sending 
to  congress  as  senator  Joseph  N.  Dolph,  after  a  pro 
longed  political  contest  with  the  democracy. 

Zenas  Ferry  Moody  was  a  New  England  republi 
can,  and  arrived  in  Oregon  in  1851.  He  was  a  mem 
ber  of  the  first  United  States  surveying  party  in  the 
Willamette  valley,  and  continued  in  that  service  for  . 


602  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

two  years.  In  1856  he  was  appointed  inspector  of 
United  States  surveys  in  California,  returning  to 
Oregon  in  1862.  After  engaging  in  a  variety  of  en 
terprises,  in  which  he  proved  himself  a  capable  busi 
ness  man,  he  was  elected  in  1872  to  the  state  senate, 
and  in  1880  to  the  lower  house,  of  which  he  was 
chosen  speaker. 

Senator  Dolph  arrived  in  Oregon  in  1862,  where 
his  talents  soon  made  him  prominent  in  his  profession 
as  a  lawyer.  He  was  educated  at  Genesee  college, 
and  was  a  native  of  New  York.  At  the  time  of  his 
election,  being  then  forty-seven  years  of  age,  he  was 
attorney  for  the  Northern  Pacific  railroad  company, 
of  which  he  was  also  vice-president. 

Moody's  administration  was  marked  by  faithfulness 
and  care,  one  absolutely  free  from,  abuses,  and  there 
are  none  among  his  predecessors  who  have  left  a 
more  stainless  record.  He  was  succeeded  in  1887 
by  Sylvester  Pennoyer,  a  democrat,  during  whose 
regime  a  bill  was  introduced  by  the  school  land 
commissioners,  whereby  nearly  a  million  dollars  would 
be  saved  to  the  school  fund  through  the  recovery  of 
its  lands  from  fraudulent  claimants.  In  the  election 
of  the  following  year,  the  free-trade  issue  resulted  in 
a  large  republican  majority,  Herman  being  chosen 
congressman  as  successor  to  Dolph.  At  that  date 
the  finances  of  Oregon  were  in  the  soundest  possible 
condition,  with  a  bonded  debt  of  less  than  $2,000,  and 
some  $54,000  in  outstanding  warrants. 

And  now,  having  completed  this  brief  sketch  of  the 
political  history  of  the  state,  I  will  proceed  to  relate 
at  greater  length  the  career  of  some  of  her  leading 
statesmen. 


CHAPTER  XL 

LIFE  OF  MATTHEW  PAUL  DEADY. 

Four  things  belong  to  a  judge — to  hear 
Courteously,  to  answer  wisely,  to  consider 
Soberly,  and  to  decide  impartially.—  Socrates. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  NAME — PARENTS  AND  THEIR  CHARACTERISTICS  —  BIRTH, 
EARLY  ENVIRONMENT,  AND  EDUCATION— REPUTATION — TEACHING  EXPE 
RIENCES — LAW  STUDIES  AND  PRACTISE — ACROSS  THE  PLAINS  TO  OREGON 
—POLITICAL  LIFE — INTEREST  IN  EDUCATION — MARRIAGE — MRS  DEADY 
AND  HER  FAMILY  —  PRESIDENTIAL  APPOINTMENT  OF  JUDGE  DEADY  — 
SOME  NOTABLE  DECISIONS — ORATORICAL  ABILITY — CHARACTER. 

THE  subject  of  this  study  consents  to  tell  the  story 
of  his  early  life  autobiographically.  This  is  gratify 
ing,  for  autobiography  has  charms  peculiar  to  itself; 
moreover,  this  autobiographer  is  one  who  possesses 
the  gift  of  narrative — the  "knack  of  telling." 

On  the  threshold  of  his  public  career  he  lays  down 
the  pen.  Speaking  in  the  first  person  he  says : 

My  father,  Daniel  Deady,  was  a  native  of  Kanturk, 
county  Cork,  Ireland.  He  was  born  on  September 
25,  1794,  arid  died  on  April  9,  1878.  He  was  edu 
cated  at  a  school,  then  of  some  local  repute,  in  the 
old  town  of  Mallow,  where  he  was  subsequently 
employed  as  a  tutor.  When  a  young  man  he  emi 
grated  to  the  United  States,  landing  at  Baltimore, 
where,  on  June  10,  1823,  he  married  my  mother, 
Mary  Ann  McSweeny,  a  native  of  that  city.  Her 
father,  Paul  McSweeny,  was  also  a  native  of  the 
county  Cork,  and  her  mother,  Miss  Chester,  was  a 
native  of  England. 

(60S) 


604  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

The  name  is  supposed  to  be  of  Danish  origin,  and 
is  properly  pronounced  Deedy.  Once,  when  my  father 
was  teaching  in  a  strange  neighborhood,  he  was  asked 
what  was  the  proper  pronunciation  of  his  name.  He 
replied  that  genteel  people  called  him  Deedy,  while 
the  common  folk  said  Dady.  He  said  the  result  was, 
in  that  neighborhood,  he  was  generally  called  Deedy. 

He  was  a  rather  stern,  self-willed  man,  with  abund 
ance  of  moral  courage,  and  believed  in  the  rule  of 
what  Walter  Besant  calls  Father  Stick.  He  was 
somewhat  above  medium  size,  and  had  dark  hair  and 
brown,  hazel  eyes.  My  mother  was  tall  and  fair,  and 
so  was  her  mother.  They  both  had  auburn  hair. 
Her  father  was  short  of  stature,  and  had  beautiful 
black  hair,  fair  complexion,  and  blue  eyes.  He  was  a 
cabinet  maker  in  early  life,  but  had  become  a  trader 
and  shop-keeper  long  before  my  time.  For  some  years 
after  coming  to  the  United  States  my  father  followed 
teaching,  and  wherever  he  went  was  known  as  the 
industrious  schoolmaster. 

I  was  born  on  May  12,  1824,  near  Easton,  in  Tal- 
bot  county,  Maryland.  My  parents  had  five  children, 
of  whom  I  was  the  eldest.  I  went  to  school  to  my 
father  most  of  the  time  until  I  was  twelve  years  of 
age.  In  1828  we  moved  from  Baltimore  to  Wheel 
ing,  West  Virginia,  where  my  father  was  employed  to 
conduct  the  Lancasterian  academy — a  large  school, 
with  one  teacher  and  many  monitors.  The  system 
.was  called  the  monitorial  or  Lancasterian.  My 
father  had  fitted  himself  for  it  before  coming  to  the 
United  States.  As  I  remember  it,  the  rod  was  an 
important  part  of  it.  My  father  bought  property  in 
Wheeling  of  old  Noah  Zane,  the  proprietor,  on  which 
he  built  houses  to  rent.  Wheeling  was  our  home  or 
resting  place  for  some  years,  but  in  the  latter  part  of 
this  period  my  father  was  engaged  in  teaching  near 
Cincinnati,  Covington,  Kentucky,  and  Rodney,  Mis 
sissippi,  taking  the  family  with  him.  In  the  fall  of 
1833  we  visited  Baltimore,  particularly  to  see  my 


MATTHEW  P.  DEADY.  605 

mother's  maiden  sister  Eliza,  who  was  dying  of  con 
sumption.  On  the  way  back  to  Wheeling  the  former 
took  cold  and  we  stopped  for  the  winter  twelve  miles 
west  of  Fredericktown,  where  my  father  took  a  school 
and  my  mother  died  of  consumption,  in  the  thirty- 
eighth  year  of  her  age,  on  May  31,  1834.  In  conse 
quence  of  this  the  family  was  broken  up  for  the  time 
being,  and  I  spent  the  greater  portion  of  the  next  two 
years  of  my  life  with  my  grandfather  and  uncle  in  a 
store  in  Baltimore.  Then  I  returned  to  Wheeling 
with  my  father,  where  I  spent  the  time  at  school  and 
in  a  music  store  until  the  spring  of  1837,  when  my 
father  bought  a  farm  across  the  river  in  Ohio  and 
removed  there,  with  the  view  of  giving  his  sons — 
three  in  number —  the  benefit  of  country  life  and  labor 
on  a  farm.  Thereafter  I  lived  on  a  farm  with  him 
nearly  four  years  and  did  my  share  of  work,  such  as 
hoeing,  mowing,  reaping,  clearing,  chopping  and  haul 
ing  wood,  making  fence,  plowing,  threshing  with  the 
flail,  milking  cows,  and  taking'care  of  stock. 

Up  to  this  time  my  reading,  considering  the  scarcity 
of  books,  was  considerable.  It  included  Pope's  Iliad 
and  Odyssey,  copies  of  which  my  father  had  brought 
with  him  from  the  old  country,  Tales  of  a  Grandfather 
(of  France),  Perigrine  Pickle,  Children  of  the  Abbey, 
Thaddeus  of  Warsaw,  TJie  Scottish  Chiefs,  Weem's  Life  of 
Washington,  Hume's  History  of  England,  The  Douay 
Bible,  and  several  school  readers,  such  as  the  Enfield 
Speaker,  a  book  full  of  the  gems  of  English  literature, 
The  English  Reader,  The  Columbian  Orator,  and  selec 
tions  from  Mrs  Barbauld  and  Miss  Edge  worth.  But 
I  soon  grew  tired  of  living  in  the  country,  and  on 
some  disagreement  with  my  father  I  left  home  in 
February  1841,  and  went  to  Barnesville,  then  a 
thriving  village,  eight  miles  from  the  national  road, 
and  undertook  to  learn  the  blacksmith  trade.  My 
employer,  John  Kelly,  was  an  enterprising  man  and 
an  excellent  mechanic.  In  after  life  he  was  treasurer 
of  the  county  for  some  years,  and,  subsequently,  was 


606  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

one  of  the  founders  of  the  ousy  glass  and  nail  town  of 
Bellaire,  on  the  Ohio  river.  His  wife,  Mrs  Rachel 
Kelly,  was  the  daughter  of  the  patriarch  of  the  vil 
lage,  Dr  Carolus  Judkins,  a  quaker  and  a  physician, 
originally  from  North  Carolina.  The  four  years  I 
spent  under  the  roof  of  this  excellent  woman  were  not 
without  profit  to  me. 

At  that  time  there  were  no  machine  or  factory 
made  articles  in  use  in  that  country,  everything  being 
made  by  hand.  The  shop  was  a  large  one,  containing 
three  fires.  We  did  all  kinds  of  work — such  as  iron 
ing  wagons  and  buggies ;  makino-  edge  tools,  from  a 

0  o  oo          *  o  o 

broad  axe  to  a  pump  augur  or  plane  bit ;  farm  tools, 
from  a  plow  to  a  hoe ;  mill  irons,  saw  and  grist ;  all 
kinds  of  chains,  bridle  bits,  and  harness  irons,  horse 
shoeing,  and  all  kinds  of  repairing. 

I  made  a  verbal  agreement  to  serve  for  four  years, 
in  consideration  of  which  I  was  to  be  boarded  and 
lodged  with  the  family,  and  to  receive  $36  the  first 
year,  $48  the  second,  and  $60  the  third,  and  six 
months'  schooling.  The  compensation  for  the  last 
year  was  left  to  be  fixed  according  to  the  progress  I 
had  made  when  the  time  came.  It  was  then  fixed 
at  $84,  which  was  considered  quite  a  compliment  to 
my  skill  and  industry.  Out  of  my  wages  I  clothed 
myself,  bought  my  school  books,  and  had  a  little 
spending  money,  but  very  little. 

1  attended  the  Barnesville  academy  in  the  winter 
of  1843,  and  was  complimented  by  my  teachers  on  the 
progress    I    made,  and,   by  way  of  distinction,  was 
allowed  to   declaim  at  the   close   of  the  school   the 
extract  from  Wirt,  "  There  is  no  excellence  without 
great  labor." 

At  the  end  of  four  years  I  had  become  more  than 
an  average  workman  and  was  complimented  by  my 
employer  on  my  mechanical  skill  and  ability.  But, 
during  my  attendance  at  the  academy,  my  fondness 
for  reading  and  intellectual  pursuits  was  stimulated, 
and  I  concluded  to  follow  my  inclinations  in  that 


MATTHEW   P.  DEADY.  607 

direction.  Accordingly,  I  attended  the  academy 
another  four  months  in  1845,  on  my  own  account. 
During  this  time  the  school  was  conducted  by  Pro 
fessor  Nathan  R.  Smith,  an  interesting  old  man,  the 
author  of  a  grammar  of  the  English  language,  and  an 
excellent  scholar.  When  I  left  school  the  professor 
gave  me  the  following  certificate,  which  I  have  pre 
served  with  great  care  and  now  regard  with  a  species 
of  reverence  : 

"  BARNES VILLE,  July  7,  1845. 
"  To  u-Jiom  it  may  concern  : 

"  This  certifies  that  Matthew  P.  Deady  is  a  young  gentleman  of  good 
moral  habits  and  character.  As  an  English  scholar  his  attainments  are 
respectable,  and  in  most  of  the  important  branches  extensive,  such  as 
arithmetic,  mathematics,  geography,  philosophy,  chemistry,  etc.  There 
fore,  I  cheerfully  recommend  him  as  qualified  to  take  charge  of  an  English 
school.  He  has  also  paid  some  attention  to  Latin. 

N.  R.  SMITH, 

[L.  s.  ]  Principal  of  the  Barnesville  A  cademy. " 

Armed  with  this  authority  I  set  out  to  find  a 
school.  But,  before  doing  so,  I  went  to  Benjamin 
Mackall,  a  merchant  of  Barnesville,  and  then  and  still 
the  first  citizen  of  the  place,  and  asked  him  for  the 
loan  of  $30,  wherewith  to  discharge  some  small  obli 
gations  I  had  incurred  and  been  unable  to  meet  while 
going  to  school.  He  gave  me  the  amount  without  a 
word,  which  I  repaid  with  great  pleasure  within  three 
months  from  the  receipts  of  my  first  school,  and  for 
which,  twenty-five  years  afterwards,  I  had  the  pleas 
ure  of  sending  him  a  copy  of  the  first  volume  of  my 
judicial  reports. 

Proceeding  to  St  Clairsville,  the  county  seat  of  the 

**  

county,  I  called  on  the  school  examiner,  John  T.  Tid- 
ball,  an  old  lawyer  and  uncle  of  General  Tidball,  of 
the  United  States  army,  who,  after  giving  me  the  usual 
perfunctory  examination,  and  reading  Professor 
Smith's  testimonial,  handed  me  a  certificate,  which  I 
have  preserved,  and  for  which  I  gave  him  my 'last 
half  dollar,  to  the  effect  that  I  was  "  qualified  to  teach 
writing,  arithmetic,  English  grammar,  geography, 
mathematics,  natural  philosophy,  and  chemistry,"  and 
that  I  was  "  a  young  gentleman  of  good  moral  char- 


608  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

acter  and  sober  and  temperate  habits,  and  fully  com 
petent  to  govern  and  manage  a  school." 

I  soon  obtained  a  school  in  the  neighborhood  of  St 
Clairsville,  the  tuition  being  payable  half  in  subscrip 
tion  and  half  in  public  money.  I  taught  this  school 
for  six  months,  earning  thereby  about  $22  a  month.  I 
had  as  pupils  two  quaker  girls,  in  whom  I  took  great 
pleasure.  The  oldest,  Miss  Jane  Edgerton,  has  since 

attained  distinction  as  a  teacher  in  that  countv  and  as 

f      ' 
inspector  ot  prisons. 

About  the  same  time  I  commenced  reading  law  with 
the  late  Judge  William  Kennon,  of  St  Clairsville,  a 
good  man  and  a  great  lawyer.  He  had  been  in  congress 
several  terms  in  his  earlier  life,  and  was  contemporary 
there  with  the  famous  Philip  Dodridge,  of  West  Vir 
ginia,  of  whom  he  told  many  interesting  stories.  He 
was  then  president  judge  of  the  court  of  common 
pleas,  and  since  a  judge  of  the  supreme  court  of  the 
state.  In  the  spring  of  1846  I  visited  Baltimore  on 
some  business  connected  with  my  grandfather's  estate, 
in  which,  as  one  of  the  representatives  of  my  mother, 
I  had  a  small  interest.  I  travelled  on  the  stage  to 
Cumberland,  and  thence  to  Baltimore  on  the  Balti 
more  and  Ohio  railway.  In  1833-4  I  had  travelled 
over  the  same  road,  between  Fredericktown  and  Bal 
timore,  in  a  "  dead-ax  "  car,  drawn  over  a  flat  rail,  laid 
much  of  the  way  on  granite  ties,  partly  by  steam  and 
partly  by  horse-power,  at  the  rate,  probably,  of  ten 
miles  an  hour. 

On  October  26,  1847,  I  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of 
the  supreme  court  of  the  state,  before  Judges  Matthew 
Burchard  and  Peter  Hitchcock.  I  remained  in  St 
Clairsville  in  the  office  of  Mr  Henry  Kennon,  master 
in  chancery  and  a  brother  of  Judge  Kennon,  until  the 
spring  of  1849.  In  this  time  I  had  some  business, 
mostly  before  justices  of  the  peace,  and  was  clerk  of 
the  township  one  year.  I  paid  some  attention  to  poli 
tics,  made  some  speeches,  and  spent  a  good  deal  of 


MATTHEW  P.  DEADY.  609 

time  in  the  society  of  the  young  ladies.  I  remember 
these  as  happy,  happy  days. 

The  winter  before  starting  across  the  plains  I 
belonged  to  a  polemic  society.  In  view  of  the  recent 
discovery  of  gold  in  California  we  discussed  the  ques 
tion,  "Whether  mines  of  the  precious  metals  are  an 
advantage  to  a  country  in  which  they  exist  T  I  was 
on  the  negative  side  and  cited  the  experience  of  Spain 
and  her  colonies  as  proof  that  mining  for  gold  and  sil 
ver  was  an  injury  to  a  country.  Whatever  I  did  with 
my  hearers,  I  convinced  myself  that  I  was  in  the  right. 
And  this,  probably,  had  much  to  do  with  my  casting 
my  lot  in  Oregon,  when  all  the  world  was  going  to 
California. 

On  April  17,  1849,  I  started  across  the  plains, 
under  very  pleasant  and  favorable  auspices,  as  one  of 
the  family  of  a  gentleman  of  St  Clairsville,  who  had 
bsen  appointed  an  Indian  agent  for  the  Pacific  coast, 
with  government  transportation  thereto,  for  himself 
and  family  of  six.  But  the  arrangement  for  trans 
portation  fell  through,  and  I  was  thrown  on  my 
resources  and  worked  my  way  to  Oregon. 

On  the  morning  of  November  14th  I  got  out  of  a 
canoe  on  the  bank  of  the  Wallamet,  where  the  city  of 
Portland  now  stands,  and  took  a  look  about  the  place, 
while  our  Indian  crew  cooked  their  breakfast.  I  had 
breakfasted  two  miles  below,  at  Guild's  place,  where 
I  staid  all  night  and  slept  in  a  house  for  the  first  time 
for  over  five  months. 

Portland  was  then  in  the  day  of  small  things.  But 
even  at  that  early  day  there  were  sea-going  vessels 
tied  to  the  bank  or  moored  in  the  river,  which  signi 
fied  that  the  place  was  potentially  in  the  highway  of 
the  world.  That  evening  I  reached  Oregon  city — 
then  the  capital  of  the  country,  socially  and  commer 
cially.  There  I  rested  a  few  days,  and  leaving  my 
little  hair  trunk,  which  I  had  gotten  safely  across  the 
plains,  with  a  few  books  and  clothes,  I  started  on  foot 
for  Lafayette.  This  was  then  a  promising  young 

C.  B.— II.     39 


610  GOVERNMENT-OREGON. 

town  in  its  third  year  and  the  county  seat  of  Yamhill 
county,  then  and  now  the  best  agricultural  country  of 
its  acres  in  the  state.  There  I  found  Professor  John 
E.  Lyle  conducting  quite  a  large  school.  The  people 
had  generally  been  to  California,  and  returned  with 
plenty  of  gold  dust.  Many  of  them  had  gathered  into 
the  town,  where  the  young  people  and  children  were 
enjoying  the  luxury  of  going  to  school. 

My  purse  was  nearly  empty  and  the  present  means 
of  replenishing  it  were  very  limited.  I  soon  made  an 
arrangement  to  go  into  the  school  with  the  professor 
for  the  remainino-  few  weeks  of  the  term  for  a  com- 

O 

pensation  sufficient  to  pay  my  board,  This  done,  I 
taught  another  term  as  an  equal  partner,  out  of  which 
I  made  about  seventy-five  dollars  per  month,  and  a 
pleasant  and  profitable  acquaintance  with  most  of  the 
best  people  of  the  county.  Not  a  few  boys  and  girls, 
now  heads  of  families,  remember  their  attendance  at 
this  school  with  pleasure,  as  a  place  where  they  got 
the  elements,  of  a  practical  education,  and  still  speak 
with  pride  of  having  gone  "  to  school  to  Judge  Deady." 

Before  commencing  the  second  term  I  went  to  Ore 
gon  city  to  get  a  supply  of  school  books.  There  had 
just  been  a  great  freshet,  and  all  the  bridges  and  fer 
ries  on  the  road  had  been  carried  away.  The  only 
mode  of  travel  was  to  take  an  oar  on  a  boat,  bound  to 
the  place,  and  laden  with  two  thousand  five  hundred 
pounds  of  flour,  with  four  other  fellow  passengers  and 
oarsmen.  I  got  aboard  at  Dayton  in  the  morning 
and  reached  Oregon  city  the  next  day — staying  all 
night  at  Butteville,  at  the  Geers.  I  came  back  on  the 
return  trip.  The  boat  was  laden  with  "  store  goods  " 
and  a  new  crew  of  passengers.  We  were  two  nights 
and  part  of  three  days  making  the  trip.  We  came 
near  being  shipwrecked  at  Rock  island  rapids,  and 
slept  in  the  rain  one  night  without  anything  to  eat. 

I  also  acted  as  general  adviser  and  aid  to  the  county 
commissioners  in  setting  the  legal  machinery  of  the 
county  in  motion;  under  the  new  territorial  organiza- 


MATTHEW  P.  DEADY.  611 

tion.  Here,  also,  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  my 
friend,  Mr  Ahio  Watt,  then  clerk  of  the  county,  and 
one  of  the  best  and  most  useful  men  in  the  country. 

In  March  1850,  Judge  O.  C.  Pratt  held  a  term  of 
the  district  court  at  Lafayette,  and  there  I  made  my 
debut  in  Oregon  as  a  lawyer  in  three  cases,  a  criminal 
action,  a  civil  one,  and  a  suit  for  divorce.  The  court 
was  held  in  a  large  unoccupied  room  in  Jacob  Hawn's 
tavern.  The  bench  and  furniture  were  improvised  for 
the  occasion.  But  the  dignity  and  order  of  the  court, 
so  far  as  the  same  depended  on  the  judge,  would  not 
suffer  from  a  comparison  with  Westminster  hall. 

The  first  one  hundred  dollars  I  got  ahead  I  sent 
back  to  St  Clairsville  to  Henry  Kennon,  to  discharge 
some  pecuniary  obligations  I  was  under  to  him  and 
other  friends,  who  were  kind  enough  to  help  me  when 
I  left  home.  They  had  heard  that  I  died  on  the 
plains  with  cholera  and  gave  up  the  amount  for  lost, 
and  this  remittance  was  the  first  news  to  the  contrary. 
The  discharge  of  this  obligation,  under  the  circum 
stances,  gave  me  great  pleasure  and  much  credit  with 
my  friends. 

At  the  election  on  the  first  Monday  in  June  1850, 
I  was  chosen,  without  the  intervention  of  any  caucus 
or  convention,  a  member  of  the  house  of  representa 
tives  from  Yamhill  county.  During  the  summer  I 
took  charge  of  the  store  of  my  good  friend,  Elder 
Glen  O.  Burnett,  brother  of  Governor  Burnett,  of 
California,  for  a  couple  of  months,  while  he  went  to 
San  Francisco  to  replenish  his  stock  of  goods.  Here 
I  enlarged  my  acquaintance  with  the  people  of  the 
county,  the  method  of  doing  business,  and  the  value 
of  articles  of  commerce.  Gold  dust  and  Spanish 
doubloons  were  a  large  part  of  the  currency.  For 
small  sums  I  took  a  pinch  from  the  customer's  buck 
skin  bag  of  dust,  while  larger  sums  were  weighed  out 
in  coffee  and  sugar  scales,  the  store  usually  getting 
down  weight.  The  Wallamet  valley  Indians  were 


612  GOVERNMENT-OREGON. 

good  customers,  and  in  dealing  with  them  I  became 
somewhat  proficient  in  the  Chinook  jargon. 

Sometimes  on  Sunday  I  attended  Campbellite  or 
Christian  meeting  at  the  country  school-house,  not  far 
from  Lafayette.  On  one  occasion  I  witnessed  a  trial 
there,  which  must  have  resembled,  in  simplicity  and 
directness,  a  proceeding  among  the  early  Christians. 

A  brother  was  charged  with  being  a  silent  partner 
in  a  saloon,  and  with  taking  his  young  daughters  to  a 
dancing  party.  He  had  been  labored  with,  and  did 
not  deny  the  charges,  but  refused  to  acknowledge 
that  he  was  in  the  wrong.  On  that  day  the  matter 
was  brought  before  the  congregation.  The  prosecutor, 
then  familiarly  known  as  Little  Preach,  has  since  been 
somewhat  noted  as  a  politician  and  journalist.  As 
soon  as  the  services  were  over,  he  stepped  on  the  plat 
form,  and  turning  his  quid  in  his  mouth  and  expecto 
rating  freely,  read  the  indictment  in  a  harsh,  hanging 
tone.  The  congregation  was  composed  of  plain,  seri 
ous  people,  and  there  was  much  feeling  and  some  tears 
among  the  brethren  at  the  prospect  of  a  feud,  and 
mayhap  a  split  in  the  body,  for  the  offending  brother 
was  well  to  do  and  had  friends.  But  the  prosecutor 
insisted  that  it  was  better  to  lop  off  the  unworthy 
member,  and  a  rising  vote  was  taken,  both  men  and 
women  participating.  On  the  saloon  question  the 
vote  was  twenty  for  and  twenty-two  against  expul 
sion,  while  on  the  dance  question  it  stood  twenty-two 
for  and  twenty  against  expulsion  ;  and  the  church  was 
said  to  be  for  whiskey,  but  against  the  dance.  And 
I  lived  to  sentence  the  prosecutor  to  pay  a  fine  for 
selling  liquor  to  Indians.  So  runs  the  world  around  I 

In  December  the  subject  of  this  study  went  to 
Oregon  city,  to  attend  the  session  of  the  legislature, 
where  he  met  for  the  first  time  Asahel  Bush,  then 
clerk  of  the  house,  and  also  James  W.  Nesmith. 
With  both  of  them  he  formed  an  intimate  friendship, 
which  colored  his  after  life,  and  which,  indeed,  had  a 


MATTHEW  P.  DEADY.  613 

marked  influence  on  the  current  of  public  affairs,  caus 
ing  them  sometimes  to  be  called  the  triumvirate.  His 
public  career  was  now  commenced,  and  he  has  never 
since  been  out  of  the  harness.  During  this  session  he 
served  on  several  important  committees,  including  the 
judiciary,  and  did  a  large  amount  of  work  in  drafting 
bills,  writing  reports,  and  shaping  legislation  in  the 
committees  of  the  house.  At  the  close  of  the  session, 
on  the  request  of  the  secretary,  General  Edward 
Hamilton,  he  prepared  for  publication  the  laws  then 
passed,  and,  also,  certain  of  those  of  the  session  of 
1849,  making  the  head  and  side  notes  thereto,  the 
whole  making  a  volume,  which  was  published  under 
the  direction  of  the  secretary.  This  was  the  first 
volume  of  laws  published  in  the  territory,  and  is  some 
times  called  the  Hamilton  code. 

In  the  summer  of  1851  he  was  elected  member  of 
the  legislative  council  from  Yamhill  county,  defeating 
David  Logan,  then  a  young  lawyer,  and  subsequently 
a  noted  man  in  Oregon.  The  contest  was  a  warm 
one.  An  opposition  was  developed  against  Deady  on 
account  of  a  vote  he  had  given  in  the  late  session  of 
the  legislature  against  a  resolution  which  unqualifiedly 
endorsed  the  course  of  the  delegate,  Thurston,  in  con 
gress,  notwithstanding  the  confiscation  of  Dr  John 
McLoughlin's  land  claim  at  Oregon  city,  in  the  pass 
age  of  the  donation  act.  The  moral  courage  which 
he  showed  in  this  case,  in  voting  as  his  conscience 
dictated,  was  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the  man, 
and  foreshadowed  many  other  like  positions  which 
he  has  taken  in  his  subsequent  career.  This  vote  dis 
pleased  Thurston's  friends,  and  just  then  their  name 
was  legion.  This  feeling  was  cultivated  by  Logan, 
who  for  his  own  benefit  affected  to  be  the  delegate's 
friend.  But  in  spite  of  all  opposition  Deady  was 
elected  by  a  handsome  majority.  He  served  in  the 
council  two  regular  sessions,  and  one  special  one,  being 
president  of  the  council  at  the  session  of  1852-3  and 
chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee  at  the  prior  ones. 


614  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

He  was  the  ruling  spirit  in  the  legislature,  and  took 
an  active  part  in  all  its  deliberations  and  proceedings. 

On  June  24,  1852,  he  married  Miss  Lucy  A.  Hen 
derson,  with  whom  he  has  lived  happily  ever  since. 
She  was  the  eldest  child  of  Robert  Henderson,  a  pros 
perous  farmer  of  Yamhill  county,  who  came  into  Ore 
gon  with  his  family  in  the  immigration  of  1846.  Mr 
Henderson  was  born  in  Tennessee,  and  grew  up  in 
Kentucky.  From  there  he  moved  to  Missouri,  where 
he  met  and  married  his  wife,  Miss  Khoda  Holman,  of 
Kentucky.  The  immediate  ancestors  of  both  were 
from  Virginia.  Judge  Deady  has  three  living  chil 
dren — handsome,  stalwart  sons.  Edward  Nesmith, 
who  was  born  September  5,  1853,  is  a  lawyer  of  good 
standing  and  ability,  and  considering  the  difference  in 
the  circumstances  and  opportunities,  will  doubtless 
honor  his  father's  name  and  reputation,  and  prove  a 
valuable  member  of  society.  Paul  Robert,  who  was 
born  November  20,  1856,  is  also  a  lawyer  of  promise. 
He  has  acted  for  some  years  as  commissioner  of  the 
United  States  circuit  court.  The  third  son  is  Hen 
derson  Brooke  Deady,  who  was  born  March  4,  1869. 
He  is  a  talented  youth  of  more  than  usual  brightness, 
and  is  now  engaged  in  the  study  of  medicine. 

Mrs  Deady  was  born  February  26,  1835,  in  Clinton 
county,  Missouri,  on  her  father's  farm.  In  1849  and 
1850  she  attended  a  boarding  school  kept  by  Mrs 
Thornton  at  Oregon  city.  Subsequently,  and  until 
her  marriage,  she  attended  Dr  and  Mrs  Geary's  school 
in  Lafayette. 

One  who  is  qualified  to  speak  of  her  says  :  "  She  is 
a  lady  of  marked  character,  with  a  never-failing  tact 
and  a  nice  sense  of  propriety  and  the  fitness  of  things. 
She  carries  her  years  lightly,  and  although  over  fifty 
she  does  not  look  to  be  more  than  thirty.  She  is  of 
medium  size  and  attractive  in  person,  possessing  a 
graceful  figure  and  easy  and  agreeable  manners,  which 
take  tone,  it  may  be.  from  a  dash  of  French  blood  in 
her  veins.  In  complexion  she  is  a  decided  brunette. 


MATTHEW   P.  DEADY.  615 

Her  large  dark  eyes,  beautiful  hair,  pleasant  smile, 
and  sweet  voice  distinguish  her  in  any  company. 
She  is  a  favorite  in  society,  and  in  her  home  is  a 
model  of  womanly  devotion  and  kindness.  In  the 
battle  of  life  she  has  performed  her  part  cheerfully 
and  faithfully,  and  she  is  entitled  to  a  share  of  the 
credit  in  all  that  her  husband  has  achieved.  Her 
purity  of  thought,  elevation  of  purpose,  and  gentle 
wisdom  exert  an  influence  on  all  around  her." 

In  the  spring  of  1853  Mr  Deady  was  appointed  by 
the  president  one  of  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court 
of  Oregon.  The  territory  was  divided  into  three  dis 
tricts,  and  in  every  county  of  each  of  these  one 
of  the  judges  held  a  district  court  twice  a  year. 
Judore  Deady  took  the  southern  district,  which 
included  the  country  south  of  the  great  valley.  It 
was  rapidly  filling  up  with  a  farming  population  from 
''Oregon,"  as  the  saying  was,  and  "the  states,"  and 
with  miners  and  traders  from  northern  California. 
There  were  no  considerable  towns  in  the  country  and 
no  courts  had  ever  been  held  in  it. 

In  the  summer  of  1853  he  paid  a  squatter  to  aban 
don  a  claim  on  Camus  swale,  in  the  Umpqua  valley, 
which  he  took  under  the  donation  act,  and  moved  his 
family  there  in  the  fall.  The  location  was  a  beautiful 
one,  and  he  called  the  place  Fair  Oaks,  taking  the 
name  from  Thackeray,  whom  he  was  reading  at  the 
time.  Indeed,  while  on  the  farm,  and  particularly 
during  the  long  winter  evenings,  he  did  much  good 
reading,  including  the  English  periodicals,  making  this 
altogether  a  profitable  period  of  his  life.  There  he 
lived  until  1860,  dividing  his  time  between  holding 
courts  and  improving  and  planting  his  farm,  laboring 
regularly  with  his  own  hands.  He  was  absent  from 
home  every  year  about  six  months,  on  the  circuit  and 
at  the  capital  holding  court,  and  in  so  doing  travelling 
at  least  fifteen  hundred  miles,  nine-tenths  of  which 
was  done  on  horse-back.  He  organized  the  courts  in 
the  five  counties  of  southern  Oregon,  opened  the 


616  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

records,  and  often  wrote  them  up  during  the  evening. 
During  this  entire  period  he  never  missed  a  court  or 
failed  to  be  present  at  the  appointed  hour  for  opening 
one.  And  this  remarkable  record  for  inflexible  punc 
tuality  was  made  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  Indian 
war  of  1855-6  occurred  at  this  time,  during  which  he 
travelled  all  over  the  country,  and  generally  alone. 
The  administration  of  justice  in  his  district  was  prompt 
and  satisfactory  to  the  public,  The  laws  against  crime 
were  impartially,  but  firmly,  enforced  for  both  the 
high  and  the  low.  No  man,  however  influential,  could 
feel  that  he  was  above  the  reach  of  the  court,  and 
even  the  weakest  knew  that  he  could  obtain  substan 
tial  justice  there.  He  once  sentenced  a  white  ruffian 
to  the  penitentiary  for  the  crime  of  killing  an  Indian  in 
an  affray,  a  judgment  unprecedented  then  or  since  in 
that  country.  An  incident,  illustrative  of  the  man,  I 
will  give  in  his  own  words : 

"  On  one  occasion,  on  May  8,  1859,  I  was  in  Rose- 
burg,  the  county  seat  of  the  county  in  which  I  lived, 
when  a  man  was  arrested  on  a  charge  of  assault  with 
intent  to  kill,  after  being  pursued  out  of  town  and 
fired  at  by  a  disorderly  crowd,  calling  itself  a  posse 
comitatiiis.  The  accused  turned  on  his  pursuers  and 
fired  his  pistol,  mortally  wounding  one  of  them,  who 
was  quite  a  prominent  man  and  an  aspirant  for  the 
sheriff's  office.  The  accused  was  then  knocked  down 
and  beaten  and  brought  up  the  street,  in  front  of  the 
hotel,  where  it  was  ascertained  that  the  wounded  man 
was  dying.  Immediately  a  cry  went  up  from  the 
excited  crowd — '  Hang  him  I  Hang  him  !'  At  this 
moment  I  came  out  of  the  hotel,  where  I  had  been 
with  the  dying  man,  and  asked  of  a  friend  what  was 
up.  He  answered,  'They  are  going  to  hang  that 
man  :'  I  replied,  'Not  while  I  am  here,'  and  started 
for  the  crowd.  He  warned  me  to  keep  away  and 
attempted  to  restrain  me.  But  I  freed  myself  from 
his  grasp,  and  in  a  moment  forced  my  way  into  the 
center  of  a  dense  crowd  of  forty  or  fifty  persons, 


MATTHEW   P.  DEADY.  617 

where  I  found  the  prisoner  on  his  knees,  and  his  face 
covered  with  blood.  One  end  of  a  lariat  was  round 
his  neck,  and  the  other  end  was  in  the  hands  of  a 
mounted  man,  who  was  passing  it  around  the  horn 
of  his  saddle,  preparatory  to  dragging  the  man  to 
death.  As  soon  as  the  latter  saw  me,  he  cried — 
'Oh!  Judge,  save  me  1  for  God's  sake  save  me.'  I 
never  shall  forget  the  look  of  terror  and  agony  depicted 
on  his  bruised  and  blood-stained  face.  No  time  was 
to  be  lost.  Grasping  the  loop  of  the  lariat,  which 
was  already  tightening  on  his  neck,  I  threw  it  over 
his  head,  just  as  the  rider  started  on  his  devilish  deed. 
Directing  the  crowd  to  stand  back,  I  called  the  sheriff 
to  come  with  me  and  take  the  prisoner  to  jail,  which 
he  did.  I  never  knew  how  I  got  through  the  crowd, 
but  a  young  man  of  about  one  hundred  and  sixty 
pounds  weight,  told  me  afterwards,  that  he  was  on 
the  outside  of  the  ring  and  opposed  his  body  to  my 
further  progress,  when  I  caught  him  in  my  arms  and 
threw  him  over  my  head  backwards,  whereupon  way 
was  made  for  me  by  the  crowd.  This  was  the  only 
case  of  mob  violence  that  occurred  in  the  district 
while  I  was  judge." 

Meanwhile  Oregon  was  increasing  in  population, 
and  the  subject  of  a  state  government  was  pushed 
forward,  resulting  at  length  in  a  general  election  of 
members  to  a  convention  for  forming  a  constitution 
which  was  to  be  submitted  to  the  people.  The  con 
vention,  consisting  of  sixty  members  and  including 
the  leading  and  substantial  men  of  the  various  coun 
ties  of  the  territory,  met  at  Salem  on  August  17, 1857. 
Its  proceedings  were  in  the  main  earnest,  sober  and 
orderly,  being  generally  characterized  by  a  spirit  of 
fairness  and  a  desire  to  promote  the  public  good.  Thus 
a  constitution  was  formed  under  which  the  people  of 
Oregon  have,  for  the  most  part  lived  contentedly  and 
prosperously  for  over  thirty  years.  Judge  Deady, 
was  a  member  from  the  county  of  Douglas,  and  was 
made  president  of  the  convention.  The  other  judges 


618  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

of  the  supreme  court,  Williams  and  Olney  were  also 
members  of  the  body.  Although  in  the  chair,  Judge 
Deady  took  an  active  part  in  the  formation  of  the 
constitution  particularly  in  the  committee  of  the  whole, 
in  which  every  debatable  question  was  first  considered 
and  the  subject  took  its  final  form.  With  the  majority 
of  the  convention  he  favored  the  general  features  of 
the  constitution,  including  biennial  sessions  of  the 
legislature ;  a  four  years'  term  of  office  for  the  gov 
ernor,  secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  state,  rather 
than  two  years;  making  persons  competent  to  testify 
without  reference  to  their  religous  belief;  requiring 
the  seat  of  government  to  be  located  by  a  vote  of  the 
electors,  and  not  otherwise ;  viva  voce  voting  in  the 
legislature;  submitting  the  questions  of  slavery  and 
free  negroes  to  a  separate  vote  of  the  people,  although, 
at  the  same  time,  he  expressed  the  opinion,  that  the 
state  had  no  right  under  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  to  exclude  the  latter  from  its  limits. 

Some  features  of  the  constitution  which  were  of 
great  value  and  importance  to  the  state,  were  especially 
moulded  by  him.  In  doing  this  he  had  to  overcome 
the  force  of  habit  which  led  the  greater  part  of  the 
convention  to  look  upon  the  organic  act  of  the  terri 
tory  as  a  precedent.  Under  it,  the  term  of  the  judges 
was  four  years,  and  an  alien  might  vote  immediately 
on  declaring  his  intention  to  become  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  Through  his  efforts  the  terms  of  the 
judges  were  extended  to  six  years,  and  he  lacked  but 
one  vote  of  making  them  eight,  as  they  certainly 
should  have  been. 

He  was  largely  instrumental  in  adding  a  clause  to 
the  judicial  oath  of  office,  to  the  effect  that  the  affiant 
would  not  accept  any  other  than  a  judicial  office, 
durino-  the  term  for  which  he  was  elected.  Notwith- 

O 

standing  this  obligation,  however,  some  of  the  judges 
of  Oregon  have  cast  a  longing  eye  on  the  United  States 
senate,  but  no  legislature  has  as  yet  been  found  that 
would  consent  to  be  an  accessory  before  the  fact  to  the 


MATTHEW   P.  DEADY.  619 

moral  perjury  involved  in  such  preferment.  He  was 
not  in  favor  of  allowing  an  alien  to  vote  before  he  was 
naturalized,  but  only  succeeded  in  having  provision 
made,  that  he  should  declare  his  intentions,  at  least  one 
year  before  the  election  at  which  he  offered  to  vote. 
He  was  largely  instrumental  in  giving  final  shape  to 
the  provisions  concerning  corporations,  which  forbids 
their  being  formed  otherwise  than  under  general  laws, 
and  limits  the  liability  of  stockholders  to  the  amount 
of  their  subscription  to  the  capital  stock  of  the 
corporation. 

The  sound,  calm,  and  philosophical  spirit  in  which 
Judge  Deady  viewed  the  many  and  complex  problems 
which  are  involved  in  the  making  of  a  state  are  echoed 
in  the  spirit  of  his  address  to  the  convention  at  its 
adjournment:  "I  congratulate  you  upon  the  conclu 
sion  of  your  labors  in  so  short  a  time,  and  with  so 
little  consequent  expense  to  the  country.  For  myself, 
while  objecting  to  some  of  the  provisions  of  this  con 
stitution,  and  looking  to  changes  in  time  that  will 
improve  it,  I  accept  it  as  it  is.  In  reference  to  the 
question  as  to  whether  we  are  prepared  to  become  a 
state,  I  have  not  been  so  sanguine  as  some  individuals. 

*  O 

Upon  the  questions  of  numbers  and  wealth,  I  think 
we  are  amply  prepared.  But  a  country  requires  age 
and  maturity  to  prepare  it  to  become  an  independent 
state  and  government.  It  is  for  the  country  to 
determine  that  question.  For  myself,  I  am  willing 
to  vote  to  enter  on  this  new  form  of  government,  and 
the  best  reward  I  can  wish  you  is,  that  your  constit 
uents  may  approve  your  labors." 

The  constitution  was  adopted  by  the  people  on 
November  9, 1857,  by  a  large  vote;  and  in  June,  1858, 
an  election,  provisional  in  its  effect  on  the  admission 
of  Oregon  to  the  union,  was  held  for  the  choice  of  a 
legislature  and  officers  for  the  new  state. 

The  judges  of  the  supreme  court  were  each  elected 
from  the  district  in  which  they  lived  and  held  courts. 
And  the  people  of  Judge  Deady' s  district,  notwith- 


620  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

standing  the  fact  that  it  was  a  time  of  strong  political 
feeling,  and  that  he  was  always  outspoken  on  public 
questions,  recognized  his  eminent  qualifications  for  the 
position  and  desired  him  to  fill  it.  No  one  thought  it 
worth  while  to  run  against  him;  he  was  named  for 
judge  from  the  southern  district  in  which  he  lived  and 
held  court  for  nearly  six  years,  and  was  elected  with 
out  opposition. 

On  the  admission  of  Oregon  into  the  union,  in  1859, 
he  was  appointed  United  States  district  judge.  The 
place  was  acceptable  to  him,  for  he  had  made  up  his 
mind  for  a  judicial  career.  Moreover,  he  practically 
had  no  option  in  the  matter,  for  the  position  was  liter 
ally  forced  upon  him.  All  the  leading  men,  who 
were  candidates  for  congressional  honors  and  state 
offices,  and  particularly  his  neighbor  General  Joseph 
Lane,  were  anxious  to  eliminate  him  from  the  senatorial 
contest,  and  agreed  in  asking  him  to  keep  out  of  the 
way  and  take  the  district  judgeship.  The  solicitude 
of  these  candidates  shows  clearly  how  excellent  were 
Deady's  chances  of  the  senatorship.  But  he  did  not 
desire  the  position,  preferring  the  judicial  office,  and 
he  told  them  so.  But  while  the  state  was  waiting  for 
admission  to  the  union,  and  after  the  congressional 
prizes  had  been  drawn,  and  the  state  offices  distrib 
uted,  some  of  the  persons  who  had  been  most  urgent 
that  he  should  accept  the  district  judgeship  endeav 
ored  to  prevent  his  appointment.  But  General  Lane, 
who  had  the  power  in  the  premises,  was  faithful  to 
his  word,  and  insisted  on  and  procured  Judge  Deady's 
appointment.  Upon  the  receipt  of  his  commission, 
dated  March  3, 1859,  he  qualified,  and  at  the  same  time 
declined  the  position  on  the  state  supreme  bench.  In 
the  fall  of  that  year  he  opened  court  at  Salem,  the 
place  appointed  by  the  act  of  admission  ;  but  realiz 
ing  that  the  bulk  of  the  business  peculiar  to  his  court 
was  likely  to  arise  in  Portland,  he  went  to  Washing 
ton  by  way  of  the  Isthmus,  and  procured  the  passage 
of  an  act  locating  the  court  at  Portland.  "In  the  fall 


MATTHEW  P.  DEADY.  621 

of  1860,"  he  says,"  I  left  the  dear  old  farm— the  domes 
tic  animals,  with  which  I  was  on  friendly  and  familiar 
terms ;  the  garden,  orchard,  and  vines  on  which  I 
had  labored  for  years — and  removed  to  Portland, 
where  I  have  lived  ever  since,  engaged  in  holding  the 
United  States  couits." 

In  the  spring  of  1862,  he  was  appointed  code  com 
missioner  for  the  state,  and  during  the  summer  of 
that  year  he  prepared  the  code  of  civil  procedure, 
which  was  enacted  by  the  legislature  that  met  in  the 
following  September,  substantially  as  it  came  from  his 
hands.  In  the  preparation  of  the  code  there  were 
nominally  associated  with  him  ex-Senator  James  K. 
Kelly  and  Governor  Addison  C.  Gibbs.  They  took 
no  part  in  its  preparation,  but  materially  aided  in  its 
passage,  the  one  as  member  of  the  senate  and  the 
other  as  governor. 

During  spare  moments  at  this  session,  which  he 
attended  as  commissioner,  he  prepared  a  general 
incorporation  act,  which  was  passed  as  prepared,  with 
one  unimportant  addition.  It  has  kept  its  place  on 
the  statute  book  ever  since.  This  is  perhaps  the  first 
act  in  the  United  States  that  put  all  business  corpora 
tions  on  the  same  and  a  proper  basis,  by  declaring 
that  any  three  or  more  persons  may  incorporate  to 
engage  in  any  lawful  enterprise  in  the  manner  pro 
vided  by  the  act.  The  importance  and  the  wide 
spread  influence  of  such  a  law  is  best  realized  when 
we  consider  how  important  it  is  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  entire  community  to  have  its  large  enterprises 
conducted  on  a  sound  and  legitimate  basis. 

The  legislature  then  asked  him  to  prepare  a  code 
of  criminal  procedure  and  a  penal  code,  and  to  report 
them  to  its  next  session  in  1864.  He  prepared  these, 
and  also  a  justices'  code  with  forms  of  proceedings 
before  justices  of  the  peace,  and  they  were  enacted  as 
reported  and  are  still  in  force.  The  thorough  prepa 
ration  of  these  important  matters  involved  a  large 
amount  of  labor  and  research ;  for  the  many  impor- 


622  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

taut  problems  presented  for  solution  had  to  be  con 
sidered  not  only  in  their  legal  aspect,  but  also  in 
relation  to  the  needs  of  the  county,  and  the  real 
condition  of  society.  The  fact  that  they  have  with 
stood  the  test  of  actual  use  for  so  many  years  is  the 
best  proof  of  the  soundness  with  which  they  were  origi 
nally  formulated.  At  this  session  the  legislature  passed 
an  act  incorporating  the  city  of  Portland,  just  as  it 
came  from  Judge  Deady's  hands,  which  is  still  sub 
stantially  in  force,  and  has  been  the  model  for  acts 
incorporating  towns  in  Oregon  ever  since.  At  this 
session  of  the  legislature  there  was  a  clamor  from 
various  ignorant  and  interested  sources  against  the 
code  of  civil  procedure  which  was  passed  at  the  ses 
sion  of  1862.  The  provisions  making  all  persons 
competent  witnesses,  without  reference  to  race  or 
color,  was  the  principal  objection  urged  by  those  who 
were  ignorant  and  prejudiced.  The  salutary  provi 
sions  on  the  subject  of  divorce  were  railed  at  by 
sundry  lawyers  whose  questionable  gains  were  unfav 
orably  affected  thereby.  The  subject  was  referred  to 
the  judiciary  committee  of  both  houses,  which  did 
Judge  Deady  the  honor  of  inviting  him  to  participate 
in  their  deliberations.  There  the  wind-bag  was  soon 
pricked,  and  after  the  adoption  of  a  few  unimportant 
amendments  that  he  prepared,  the  subject  was  put  to 
rest.  During  this  session  he  also  prepared  statutes 
on  the  subject  of  the  election  and  qualification  of 
district  attorney,  sheriff,  county  clerk,  treasurer, 
assessor,  surveyor;  commissioner  of  the  county  court, 
justices  of  the  peace,  and  constables,  which  were 
passed  as  prepared,  and  are  still  in  the  statute  book. 
The  legislature  then  asked  him  to  make  a  compila 
tion  of  all  the  laws  of  Oregon,  including  the  codes 
then  in  force,  for  publication  in  one  volume.  This 
was  a  laborious  and  delicate  undertaking.  The  mis 
cellaneous  laws  of  Oregon  were  scattered  through  the 
current  statutes  from  1843  to  that  date.  The  organic 
act  of  1848  had  continued  in  force  the  laws  of  the 


MATTHEW   P.  DEADY.  623 

provisional  government  not  inconsistent  therewith, 
and  the  constitution  of  1857  had  continued  in  force 
all  prior  laws  not  in  conflict  therewith.  It  thus 
devolved  upon  the  compiler  to  determine  what  acts  or 
parts  of  acts  were  then  in  force,  and  what  were  not. 
He  had  also  to  substitute  the  proper  officers  and  tri 
bunals  created  by  the  constitution,  for  those  charged 
with  similar  functions  and  jurisdictions  under  the  ter 
ritorial  and  provisional  governments.  This  task 
required  care,  discrimination,  and  judgment  in  its  per 
formances.  The  work  was  well  done  and  was 
enriched  with  many  valuable  notes  of  a  historic  as 
well  as  a  legal  character.  The  published  volume,  of 
some  1,100  pages,  placed  the  laws  of  Oregon  for  the 
first  time  in  convenient  and  accessible  shape ;  and 
Deady's  Codes  and  Compilation  rank  high  among  pro 
ductions  of  this  kind.  In  1874,  at  the  request  of  the 
legislature,  he  made,  aided  by  La  Fayette  Lane,  a 
similar  compilation.  In  all  this  work  of  codification 
and  compilation,  which  was  done  without  any  clerical 
aid,  Judge  Deady  was  much  more  influenced  by  a 
desire  to  promote  the  public  good,  arid  to  link  his 
name  with  the  legislature  of  the  state,  than  by  the 
meager  compensation  allowed  by  the  legislature.  Few 
if  any  states  have  had  the  same  work  done  so  well, 
or  at  so  little  cost. 

By  1863  the  depreciation  of  greenbacks  had  ren 
dered  the  judge's  salary  altogether  inadequate  to  his 
support.  He  had  already  been  compelled  to  sell  his 
farm  to  enable  him  to  make  payments  on  a  home  he 
had  purchased  in  Portland.  As  a  means  of  adding 
something  to  his  resources  he  became  the  regular 
correspondent  of  the  San  Francisco  Bulletin.  He 
continued  this  work  for  nearly  four  years,  writing  a 
letter  of  a  column  or  more  every  week,  in  which  he 
spoke  of  passing  events  in  Oregon,  sketched  her  pub 
lic  men  and  measures,  past  and  present,  and  had 
something  to  say  on  all  important  current  matters ; 
and  now  and  then  he  gave  a  paragraph  on  an  old 


65H  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

book  or  author.  The  letters  attracted  attention  in 
Oregon  and  elsewhere  not  less  on  account  of  the  form 
than  their  substance.  The  experience  of  writing  for 
publication  under  the  responsibility  of  being  seen  in 
print — was  he  says,  "a  good  school  for  me,  besides 
the  few  hundred  dollars  it  added  to  my  scanty 
incoino." 

In  1867-8-9,  there  was  no  circuit  judge  of  the 
United  States  courts  on  this  coast,  and  Judge  Deady 
was  assigned  by  Mr.  Justice  Field  to  hold  the  circuit 

—   j m.  /» 

co art  in  San  Francisco.  He  was  thus  engaged  for 
sj.na  three  months  in  each  of  those  years,  and  cleared 
the  long  delayed  docket.  His  holding  the  court 
during  these  sessions  brought  the  people  of  California 
for  the  first  time  into  direct  contact  with  the  judge, 
although  of  course  his  work  in  Oregon  had  already 
given  him  a  high  reputation  as  a  jurist  and  patriotic 
citizen.  By  the  end  of  his  first  term,  the  bar  of 
S  in  Francisco  freely  admitted  his  great  abilities,  and 
pissed  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  : 

WHEREAS,  the  Honorable  Matthew  P.  Deady,  United  States  district 
judge  for  the  district  of  Oregon,  has,  by  the  allotment  of  the  United  States 
supreme  court,  presided  over  the  United  States  circuit  court  for  the  district 
of  California  during  the  present  term,  and  for  the  first  time  been  brought 
in  contact  with  the  members  of  the  California  bar:  Therefore,  be  it 

RESOLVED,  That  upon  Judge  Deady's  departure  from  among  us  to 
return  to  his  own  district,  the  members  of  the  bar  of  California  desire  to 
express  their  thanks  to  him  for  the  cheerfulness  and  readiness  which  he  has 
exhibited  in  the  disposal  of  a  large  number  of  important  cases,  and  that 
they  must-bear  testimony  to  the  judicial  courtesy,  ability,  and  learning 
with  which  he  has  performed  his  judicial  duties,  and  has  won  for  himself 
the  respect,  esteem,  and  confidence  not  only  of  ourselves,  but  of  the  public. 

THOMPSON  CAMPBELL,  chairman, 
GEORGE  E.  WHITNEY,  secretary. 

San  Francisco,  April  26,  1867. 

During  the  first  term  he  heard  and  decided  the 
famous  case  of  McCall  vs  McDowell  (1  Deady  233),  in 
which  he  held  that  congress  alone  had  the  power  to 
suspend  the  habeas  corpus,  and  that  the  attempted 
suspension  of  the  writ  by  the  president  without  the 
authority  of  congress  on  September  24,  1862,  was 
illegal  and  void.  Such  an  important  decision  as  this 
deserves  more  than  a  passing  notice,  and  attracted 


MATTHEW  P.  DEADY.  625 

wide  attention  throughout  the  country  when  it  was 
rendered.  In  April  1865,  General  McDowell,  issued 
an  order  for  the  arrest  of  all  persons  indulging  in 
public  rejoicing  over  the  assassination  of  President 
Lincoln.  Under  this  order  Mr-Call  was  arrested  in 
the  interior  of  California,  and  confined  at  Fort 
Alcatraz,  but  was  at  length  discharged.  Subsequently 
he  brought  an  action  for  damages  against  General 
McDowell,  and  the  subordinate  who  made  the  arrest, 
in  one  of  the  courts  of  California.  The  action 
was  removed  to  the  United  States  circuit  court, 
where  it  was  tried  without  a  jury.  The  court  held 
that  the  action  could  be  maintained  against  General 
McDowell,  but  not  against  the  subordinate,  who  was 
acting  in  obedience  to  an  order  of  his  superior  not 
illegal  on  its  face.  Damages  were  awarded  to  McCall 
in  the  sum  of  six  hundred  and  thirty-five  dollars. 
These  were  only  intended  to  compensate  the  plaintiff 
for  his  expenses  and  loss  of  time.  In  the  opinion,  it 
was  said,  that  while  the  words  used  by  McCall  did 
not  constitute  a  legal  crime,  they  were,  under  the 
circumstances,  greatly  to  be  reprobated. 

The  court  held  that  while  the  act  of  1863,  giving 
power  to  the  president  to  cause  arrests  to  be  made 
in  particular  cases,  without  the  cause  thereof  being 
subject  to  enquiry  on  habeas  corpus,  either  directly 
or  by  his  subordinates,  was  constitutional  and  valid, 
yet,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the  president  did  not  authorize 
McDowell  to  make  the  arrest  in  question,  and  there 
fore  he  could  not  claim  the  benefit  of  the  act. 

"  The  power  of  arbitrary  arrest"  said  Judge  Deady 
in  the  opinion,  "  is  a  very  dangerous  one.  In  the 
hands  of  improper  persons  it  would  be  liable  to  very 
great  abuse.  If  every  officer  throughout  the  United 
States  during  the  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus  is 
authorized  to  arrest  and  imprison  whom  he  will,  as 
aiders  and  abettors  of  the  enemy,  without  further 
orders  from  the  president,  or  those  to  whom  he^has 
specially  committed  such  authority,  the  state  of  things 

C.  B.— II.     40 


626  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

that  would  follow  can  better  be  imagined  than 
described. " 

In  the  excited  state  of  public  feeling  at  the  time 
this  celebrated  decision  was  rendered,  considerable 
hostile  criticism  was  indulged  in,  but  as  time  cooled 
the  passions  of  the  moment  it  came  to  be  recognized 
universally  that  the  opinion  was  based  on  sound  prin 
ciples  which  could  not  be  subverted. 

The  originality  which  Judge  Deady  brings  to  bear 
on  all  his  decisions,  and  his  habit  of  viewing  questions 
from  the  standpoint  of  first  principles,  was  illustrated 
in  the  case  of  Martinetti  vs  Maguire  (1  Deady  216). 
The  action  was  brought  about  by  the  rivalry  of  two 
dramatic  companies  the  one,  who  claimed  the  exclusive 
right  to  exhibit  the  Black  Crook,  seeking  under  the 
copyright  law  to  prevent  another  from  presenting  a 
colorable  imitation,  under  the  name  of  the  Black  Rook. 

The  court  found  that  the  plaintiff  had  the  exclusive 
right  as  assignee,  to  exhibit  the  Black  Crook  in  Cali 
fornia,  and  that  the  defendant  was  producing  substan 
tially  the  same  play  under  the  name  of  the  Black  Rook, 
but  denied  the  relief  sought  on  the  ground  that  such 
a  composition  was  not  entitled  to  copyright. 

On  this  point  Judge  Deady  said,  the  power  given 
to  congress  to  grant  copyright  is  limited  to  the 
purpose  of  promoting  "the  progress  of  science  and  the 
useful  arts."  The  Black  Crook  is  a  mere  lewd  spectacle, 
however  gilded.  It  in  no  way  tends  to  the  promo 
tion  of  science  or  the  useful  arts,  and  is  therefore 
not  entitled  to  copyright. 

Another  case  which  came  up  while  he  was  holding 
court  in  California  attracted  much  attention  through 
out  the  entire  country.  In  the  Avery-Bigler  case 
a  general  discussion  arose  on  the  subject  of  the  tenure 
of  office  under  the  federal  constitution  and  the  laws, 
and  of  the  power  to  remove  incumbents  from 
office.  Judge  Deady  gave  a  thorough  discussion  of 
the  constitutional  principles  involved,  holding 
that  the  'appointing  power  under  the  constitution, 


MATTHEW   P.  DEADY.  627 

icluded  the  president  and  the  senate— the  nomination 
and  the  confirmation.  The  case  was  doubtless  influen 
tial  in  hastening  the  passage  by  congress  of  the 
Tenure  of  office  Act,  of  1867. 

In  1883,  he  sat  in  the  circuit  court  of  California 
on  the  hearing  of  the  great  debris  case  (9  Sawyer  441) 
and  wrote  a  concurring  opinion  against  the  right  of 
the  hydraulic  miners  to  deposit  the  debris  of  their 
mines  in  the  streams  of  the  state.  Vast  interests 
were  at  stake  in  this  decision.  The  farmers  of  the 
Sacramento  valley  were  arrayed  against  the  miners 
of  the  mountains,  which  for  a  generation  had  produced 
millions  of  gold.  But  the  production  of  this  vast 
quantity  of  precious  metal  was  slowly  but  surely 
bringing  irretrievable  ruin  upon  the  farmers  that  were 
cultivating  the  rich  alluvial  soil  that  lay  along  the 
stream  below.  And  while  the  decision  against  the 
miners  struck  a  heavy  blow  at  an  important  industry, 
it  unquestionably  was  founded  on  justice  and  sound 
law  ;  moreover  it  emphasized  the  fact,  which  is  now 
coming  to  be  clearly  recognized,  that  the  great  and 
permanent  wealth  of  California  is  in  her  fertile  soil, 
rather  than  in  her  gold  and  silver.  In  1885  Judge 
Deady  again  sat  in  the  same  court,  in  the  famous  case 
of  Sharon  vs  Hill  (11  Sawyer  290)  and  wrote  the 
leading  opinion  therein,  in  support  of  the  decision  of 
the  court,  that  the  so-called  marriage  contract  was  a 
palpable  forgery,  invented  to  support  the  defendant 
in  a  predatory  raid  on  Sharon's  fortune.  His  masterly 
presentation  of  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  his  unanswer 
able  argument  in  support  of  his  conclusion  therefrom, 
broke  the  back,  so  to  speak,  of  Sarah  Althea's  claim 
to  be  the  wife  of  Sharon,  and  cast  deserved  odium 
upon  this  impudent  attempt  to  dignify  a  "furtive 
intercourse"  between  a  man  and  woman  with  the 
name  of  marriage. 

During  all  this  time,  and  since,  he  has  held  the 
district  and  circuit  courts  in  Oregon,  doing  all  the 
business  in  the  former  and  nearly  all  in  the  latter. 


G28  GOVERNMENT-OREGON. 

Many  of  the  cases  decided  by  him  in  these  courts 
were  important,  both  as  to  the  amount  at  stake  and 
the  questions  involved,  particularly  so  in  the  land, 
railway,  bankruptcy,  and  admiralty  cases.  The 
reports,  1  Deady  and  the  14  volumes  of  Sawyer, 
bear  evidence  of  the  prodigious  industry,  profound 
learning,  and  great  ability  of  the  district  judge  of 
Oregon  during  the  last  twenty-five  years. 

Herein  are  given  the  titles  of  a  few  of  these, 
with  a  brief  statement  of  the  point  decided. 

And  first  his  administration  of  the  bankrupt  act 
of  18C7  was  characterized  by  promptness  and  an 
intelligent  appreciation  of  the  subject  and  purpose 
of  the  act,  and  was  altogether  satisfactory  to  the 
business  community.  As  a  consequence  the  board 
of  trade  of  Portland  has  always  favored  a  renewal 
of  the  act.  His  exposition  of  the  law,  and  the 
liabilities  and  rights  of  debtor  and  creditor  there 
under,  are  contained  in  a  long  line  of  decisions  which 
have  been  cited  and  followed  all  over  the  country. 

In  the  Canada,  (7  Saw.,  175),  he  held  against  the 
weight  of  former  rulings  that  a  stevedore's  labor  was 
a  maritime  service,  for  which  he  had  a  lien  on  the 
ship,  and  this  doctrine  is  now  the  prevailing  one. 

In  ex  parte  Kochler,  (11  Saw.,  37  and  12  Saw., 
446),  he  held  that  notwithstanding  the  Oregon  act  of 
1885,  regulating  the  transportation  of  passengers  and 
property,  a  railway  corporation  has  a  vested  right  to 
collect  and  receive  a  reasonable  compensation  for  the 
transportation  of  persons  and  property,  which  the 
legislature  cannot  impair  or  destroy  ;  and  for  the  pur 
pose  of  retainitfg  or  securing  business,  but  not  other 
wise,  it  may  charge  less  for  a  long  haul  than  a  short  one 
in  the  same  direction.  And  in  the  latter  case  he  held 
under  section  4  of  the  inter-state  commerce  act,  that 
under  like  conditions  and  circumstances  a  railway 
corporation  may  also  charge  less  for  a  long  haul  than 
a  short  one,  but  not  for  the  purpose  of  favoring  one 


MATTHEW   P.  DEADY.  629 

person  or  place  at  the  expense  or  to  the  prejudice  of 
another. 

Gilmore  vs  the  Northern  Pacific  railway  company, 
(9  Saw.,  558),  is  a  pioneer  case  for  the  doctrine  tbat 
all  persons  engaged  in  a  common  service  are  not  "  fel 
low  servants,"  as  was  held  in  Priestly  vs  Fowler,  (3 
M.  and  W.,  1),  Murray  vs  railway  company,  (1 
McMull.,  385),  and  Farwell  vs  Boston  railway  com 
pany,  (4  Mt.  49),  so  that  the  common  employer  is 
not  liable  for  an  injury  sustained  by  one  servant 
through  the  negligence  or  misconduct  of  another. 
On  the  contrary  Judge  Deady  held  in  this  case,  that 
these  authorities  were  not  applicable  to  the  changed 
condition  of  modern  industries,  carried  on  by  ideal 
and  invisible  masters  called  corporations,  and  that 
where  a  servant  has  authority  to  direct  another,  or 
to  provide  necessary  material  and  appliances  for  his 
convenient  and  safe  employment,  he  is  so  far  the  rep 
resentative  of  the  master,  who  is  responsible  in  dam 
ages  for  any  injury  sustained  by  such  other,  by  reason 
of  the  negligence  or  misconduct  of  such  representa 
tive.  Shortly  afterward  the  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States,  in  C.  and  M.  Ry.  Co.  vs  Ross,  (112 
U.  S.,  389),  announced  the  same  doctrine. 

Like  other  profound  jurists,  Judge  Deady  attaches 
great  importance  to  the  study  of  the  principles  of  the 
common  law.  Indeed,  the  value  of  such  study  was 
strongly  and  ably  presented  in  an  address  presented 
by  him  before  the  Portland  law  association  in 
December  1866.  The  following  extracts  from  that 
address  may  be  read  with  profit  by  every  citizen, 
whether  he  be  a  lawyer  or  engaged  in  other  callings  : 

"  I  am  aware  that  there  is  an  impression  abroad  in 
the  profession,  as  well  as  out  of  it,  that  the  common 
law  is  among  the  things  that  were  but  are  not,  that 
it  has  become  superseded  and  thrown  in  the  back 
ground  by  the  modern  codes  of  procedure,  and 
that  time  spent  in  the  study  or  perusal  of  the  old 
reports,  or  works  of  Coke,  Comyn,  Bacon,  and  even 


630  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

Blackstone,  is  time  wasted.  But  let  me  assure  you 
now  that  this  is  a  grevious  mistake.  All  judicial  pro 
ceedings  in  the  United  States, — unless  it  be  in  the 
state  of  Louisiana, — however  named  or  modified  by 
systematic  codes  or  mere  desultory  and  miscellaneous 
statutes  are  based  upon  and  constructed  from  the  com 
mon  law  of  England  and  America.  They  all  presuppose 
an  acquaintance  with  the  general  principles  and  axioms 
of  the  common  law,  and  are  impregnated  and  animated 
to  speak  by  its  spirit  and  genius. 

"  For  the  enforcement  of  every  legal  right  and  the 
redress  of  every  injury  thereto,  of  which  the  law 
takes  cognizance,  our  modern  code  of  procedure,  like 
the  common  law,  as  declared  by  the  statutes  of  West 
minster  2d,  gives  every  one  an  action  on  the  case,  with 
out  other  name  or  signification.  Yet,  with  our  vision 
bounded  by  the  narrow  horizon  of  to-day  or  yesterday, 
or  even  a  generation,  we  plume  ourselves  upon  our 
superiority  over  our  forefathers,  and  point  to  our  law 
and  other  reforms  as  conclusive  evidence  of  the  fact, 
when  in  truth  we  are  only  groping  our  way  back  to 
the  old  paths.  After  this,  let  us  abate  our  boasting, 
and  say  with  Solomon,  'There  is  no  new  thing  under 
the  sun.' 

"  To  the  people  who  speak  the  English  tongue,  the 
common  law  is  something  more  than  a  rule  of  action 
prescribed  by  the  supreme  power  of  the  state,  com 
manding  what  is  right  and  forbidding  what  is  wrong, 
but  it  is  also  the  wisdom  of  their  ancestors — the  out 
growth  of  themselves,  at  once  a  tradition  and  a  living 
inheritance.  Its  principles,  maxims,  and  aphorisms 
enter  into  and  give  tone  and  color  to  our  morals, 
politics,  and  literature.  Whether  we  exist  as  a  king 
dom,  commonwealth,  or  republic,  it  adapts  itself  to  our 
condition,  and  furnishes  at  once  the  bulwark  and  the 
limit  of  our  rights  of  person  and  property,  and  of 
government  and  subject  or  citizen.  As  the  English 
race  are  now  the  only  people  who  are  colonizing  the 
world,  this  language  and  law  bids  fair  to  encompass 


MATTHEW  P.  DEADY.  631 

the  earth  and  become  the  speech  and  rule  of  the 
world. 

"Nowadays,  it  is  the  fashion  in  some  quarters  to 
sneer  at  the  common  law  as  a  relic  of  feudalism  and 
barbarism,  and  to  point  to  the  civil  law  as  the  proper 
source  from  whence  to  draw  the  jurisprudence  of  a 
highly  civilized  and  refined  people.  But  I  caution  you 
to  beware  of  the  spirit,  and  be  not  persuaded  by  it. 
.  .  .  The  laws  of  a  people  react  upon  them,  and  mould 
their  character  and  opinions.  The  common  law 
people — the  English  race,  wherever  they  go,  establish 
limited  governments,  with  parliaments  and  juries;  but 
the  people  of  civil  law — the  Latin  race,  always  come 
under  some  modification  of  the  empire — in  which  the 
will  of  the  prince,  emperor,  or  chieftain  is  the  supreme 
law. 

"In  so  far  then  as  we  discard  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  common  law,  and  adopt  those  of  the 
civil,  we  are  paving  the  way  for  the  political  and  social 
condition  of  the  Roman  empire,  in  the  age  of  the 
Csesars — both  good  and  bad.  Probably  this  is  the 
innate  tendency  and  inevitable  result  of  our  republic, 
with  its  diversified  and  agglomerated  population  and 
ever  widening  territory. 

"But  be  this  as  it  may,  the  common  law  is  the 
source  and  panoply  of  all  those  features  of  our  system 
which  distinguish  us  from  the  subjects  of  absolute 
governments,  ancient  or  modern, — either  by  monarchs 
or  majorities.  It  was  made  by  freemen  for  freemen, 
and  so  long  as  you  think  these  distinctions  between  it 
and  the  civil  law  worth  preserving,  you  should  cherish 
it  in  private  and  exalt  it  in  public." 

In  a  biography  of  Judge  Deady,  contained  in  a 
lately  published  history  of  Portland,  edited  by  the 
editor  of  the  Oregonian,  Mr  Harvey  W.  Scott,  a  resi 
dent  of  Oregon  since  1852,  there  occurs  the  following 
passage : 

"Any  work  professing  to  describe  the  representa 
tive  men  of  the  Pacific  coast,  would  be  vely  incom- 


632  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

plete  which  failed  to  present  a  sketch  of  the  life  and 
labors  of  the  distinguished  jurist  whose  name  stands 
at  the  head  of  this  article. 

"Coming  to  Oregon  in  the  flower  of  his  earty  man 
hood,  he  has  grown  with  the  growth  of  his  adopted 
state,  and  strengthened  with  her  strength.  His  hand 
and  mind  are  everywhere  seen  in  her  constitution,  her 
laws,  and  her  polity.  Her  material  advancement  has 
been  greatly  promoted  by  his  efforts,  and  his  name  will 
ever  remain  indelibly  impressed  on  her  history." 

Judge  Deady's  career  has  been  essentially  a  judicial 
one,  and  it  was  fortunate  for  Oregon  that  a  man  of  so 
much  native  strength  and  largeness  of  character 
should  have  become  so  important  a  factor  in  her 
history  in  the  critical  formative  period.  It  is  easy  for 
the  most  casual  observer  to  see  how  his  strong  person 
ality  has  been  directly  instrumental  in  shaping  the 
career  of  his  adopted  state.  And  while  he  already  is 
seen  to  stand  head  and  shoulders  above  his  contempo 
raries,  there  can  be  no  question  but  that  he  will 
become  more  and  more  prominent  as  the  smaller  men 
of  his  day  fade  away  into  oblivion  with  the  lapse  of 
time.  While  the  judge  is  looked  up  to  and  respected 
by  the  community  generally,  his  preeminent  qualities 
have  enforced  the  same  homage  from  the  legal  fratern 
ity.  It  has  come  to  be  recognized  universally  that  he 
is  a  large  man  in  the  position  he  now  occupies,  and 
there  can  be  no  question  but  that  he  would  be  a  larger 
man  on  the  supreme  bench  of  the  United  States. 

The  safeguards  which  he  has  largely  been  instru 
mental  in  throwing  around  life,  liberty,  and  property, 
have  done  much  to  give  Oregon  its  well  deserved  name 
of  a  law-abiding  community,  and  to  save  her  from  the 
disgrace  of  the  many  infractions  and  overturnings  of 
all  law  which  have  occurred  in  too  many  of  the  newer 
sections  of  the  community.  The  personal  dignity 
which  he  has  always  maintained  on  the  bench,  and 
the  observance  of  the  formalities  of  the  court  whk'h 
he  has  always  insisted  upon,  has  had  its  influence  too, 


MATTHEW  P.  DEADY.  633 

in  deeply  grounding  a  respect  for  law  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people. 

Many  questions  of  the  gravest  importance  have  come 
before  Judge  Deady,  in  the  course  of  his  long  career, 
which  he  has  been  forced  to  study  without  the  help  of 
precedent  and  to  decide  without  the  aid  of  authority. 
But  with  characteristic  courage  and  self-reliance,  he 
has  applied  himself  to  the  solution  of  these  problems, 
and  his  decisions  have  been  based  on  the  soundest 
legal  principles  and  justice.  The  settlement  of  suits 
arising  under  the  donation  land  laws  became  of  the 
gravest  importance,  from  the  magnitude  of  the 
interests  involved  in  the  city  of  Portland  and  else 
where;  bat  when  he  rendered  his  decisions  it  placed 
these  questions  permanently  at  rest,  although  in  reach 
ing  his  final  judgment  he  had  to  consider  many  points 
that  came  up  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the 
world  .  New  principles  and  new  laws  also  had  to  be 
considered  by  his  fertile  brain  in  connection  with  the 
grants  of  the  public  domain  to  the  state,  to  railway 
corporations,  and  to  settlers,  under  the  donation, 
preemption,  and  homestead  act," and  the  right  to  cut 
and  take  timber  therefrom. 

When  political  demagogues,  relying  on  the  popular 
prejudice  against  the  Chinese,  have  undertaken  to 
deprive  them  of  their  treaty  rights  and  the  equal  pro 
tection  of  the  laws,  the  judge,  unmoved  by  partisan 
clamor,  has  enforced  the  law  in  their  favor,  regardless 
of  consequences. 

In  the  spring  of  1886,  a  general  election  being  near 
at  hand,  the  people  calling  themselves  anti-Chinese 
held  meetings  in  various  places  in  Oregon,  and  resolved 
that  the  Chinese  must  go.  Encouraged  and  set  on 
by  these  incendiary  proceedings,  a  midnight  mob 
captured  the  Chinese  working  in  the  woolen  factory  in 
Oregon  city,  and  after  relieving  them  of  their  money, 
sent  them  off  in  a  boat  to  Portland.  Soon  afterward 
Judge  Deady,  in  his  charge  to  the  grand  jury  in  the 
United  States  district  court,  called  their  attention 


634  GOVERNMENT-OREGON. 

to  this  outrage,  as  a  result  of  which,  a  number  of  the 
guilty  parties  were  indicted  and  arrested.  In  the 
course  of  the  charge  he  said : 

"An  evil  spirit  is  abroad  in  the  land,  not  only  here 
bat  everywhere.  It  tramples  down  the  law  of  the 
country  and  fosters  riot  and  anarchy.  Now  it  is 
riding  on  the  back  of  labor,  and  the  foolish  Issachar 
couches  down  to  the  burden  and  becomes  its  servant. 

"Lawless  and  irresponsible  associations  of  persons 
are  forming  all  over  the  country,  claiming  the  right  to 
impose  their  opinions  upon  others,  and  to  dictate  for 
whom  they  shall  work,  and  whom  they  shall  hire,  from 
whom  they  shall  buy,  and  to  whom  they  shall  sell, 
and  for  what  price  or  compensation.  In  these  associa 
tions  the  most  audacious  and  unscrupulous  naturally 
come  to  the  front,  and  for  the  time  being  control  their 
conduct.  Freedom,  law,  and  order  are  so  far  sub 
verted,  and  a  tyranny  is  set  up  in  our  midst  most  gross 
and  galling. 

"Nothing  like  it  has  afflicted  the  world  since  the 
middle  ages,  when  the  lawless  barons  and  their  brutal 
followers  desolated  Europe  with  their  private  wars 
and  predatory  raids,  until  the  husbandman  was  driven 
from  his  ravaged  fields,  and  the  artisan  from  his 
pillaged  shop,  and  the  fair  land  became  a  waste. 

"  The  dominant  motive  of  the  movement  is  some 
form  of  selfishness,  and  its  tendency  is  backward  to 
barbarism — the  rule  of  the  strongest,  guided  by  no 
other  or  better  precept  than  this:  'Might  makes 
right.' 

"This  is  not  the  time  nor  place  to  inquire  into  the 
cause  of  this  condition  of  society.  It  may  be  the 
natural  outcome  of  the  modern  political  economy, 
which,  assuming  that  the  conflict  of  private  interests 
will  produce  economic  order  and  right,  has  reduced 
the  relation  between  capital  and  labor  to  the  mere 
matter  of  supply  and  demand,  and  limited  the  duty 
and  obligation  of  the  one  to  the  other,  to  the  pay 
ment  of  the  minimum  of  wagres  for  the  maximum  of 


MATTHEW   P.  DEADY.  635 

labor  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  getting  the  maximum 
of  wages  for  the  minimum  of  labor  on  the  other. 

"But  whatever  the  cause,  I  have  faith  that  the 
teaching  of  experience  and  the  good  sense  and  love 
of  justice  of  the  people  of  Oregon  will  find  a  remedy 
for  the  evil  in  time.  And  in  the  mean  while  it 
behooves  those  of  us  into  whose  hands  the  adminis 
tration  of  the  law  and  the  conservation  of  the  public 
peace  is  confided,  to  do  what  we  can,  wisely  but 
firmly,  to  prevent  this  evil  spirit  from  destroying  the 
material  resources  of  the  country,  and  making  any 
improvement  in  the  condition  of  society,  in  this 
respect,  still  more  difficult  and  doubtful." 

In  his  address  to  the  Pioneers  in  1876,  there  is  a 
happy  mingling  of  history  and  philosophy.  In  con 
sidering  the  comparative  merits  of  the  adverse  claims 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  to  the 
country  known  as  Oregon,  founded  on  discovery,  he 
said  : 

"  From  the  beginning  the  right  to  the  country  was 
to  depend  upon  the  successful  occupation  of  it.  In 
the  race  for  possession  Great  Britain  was  represented 
by  the  fur  companies,  the  United  States  by  the 
eastern  trader  and  missionary,  and  particularly  by  the 
western  farmer  and  woodsman.  The  fur  companies 
desired  to  occupy  the  country  as  a  trapping  ground 
for  the  fur-bearing  animals. 

"On  the  other  .hand,  the  American  settler  was 
always  animated,  often  it  may  have  been  uncon 
sciously,  with  the  heroic  thought  that  he  was  perma 
nently  engaged  in  reclaiming  the  wilderness- 
building  a  home,  founding  an  American  state,  and 
extending  the  area  of  liberty.  He  had  visions,  how 
ever  dimly  seen,  that  he  was  here  to  do  for  this 
country  what  his  ancestors  had  done  for  savage  Eng 
land  centuries  before— to  plant  a  community  which  in 
due  time  should  grow  and  ripen  into  one  of  the  great 
sisterhood  of  Anglo-American  states,  wherein  the 


636  GOVERNMENT  -OREGf  tf. 

language  of  the  Bible,  Shakespeare,  and  Milton  should 
be  spoken  by  millions  then  unborn,  and  the  law  of 
magna  charta  and  Westminster  hall  be  the  bulwark 

O 

of  liberty  and  the  buttress  of  order  for  generations 
to  come. 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  it  is  not  to  be  won 
dered  at  that  this  British  army  of  occupation  failed 
to  take  deep  root  in  the  soil  and  hold  the  country  as 
against  the  Oregon  pioneer." 

In  conclusion  and  addressing  the  Pioneers  person 
ally,  he  said  : 

"  Yes,  worthy  Pioneers,  to  you,  whom  heaven  has 
kindly  granted  to  see  this  day,  and  your  absent  but 
not  forgotten  brethren  and  friends,  who  made  a  path 
way  to  the  country  with  their  dust,  or  have  since 
given  their  lives  for  its  defence,  or  fallen  asleep  in  its 
valleys,  are  we  chiefly  indebted  for  this  grand  and 
beneficent  result.  By  your  great  endeavors  an  empire 
in  limits  has  been  added  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States,  and  to-day  the  sun  in  his  journey 
across  the  heavens  shines  down  upon  a  continuous 
union  of  American  states  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
Pacific.  Verily  you  have  your  reward,  and  they 
who  come  after  you  shall  rise  up  and  do  you  honor." 

In  his  interesting  address  on  towns  and  cities, 
delivered  in  1886,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
University  of  Oregon,  he  showed  how  the  failure  of 
municipal  government  in  the  United  States  was 
owing  to  the  prevalence  at  the  polls  of  the  vagrant 
and  non-taxpaying  element.  He  said: 

"  The  drift  of  any  municipal  administration  in 
which  those  who  pay  no  taxes,  collect  and  expend  the 
revenue,  is  to  waste  and  corruption.  For  a  time 
under  favorable  conditions,  this  result  may  be  pre 
vented  or  delayed.  And  now  and  then  the  taxpayers, 
aroused  by  the  exposure  of  some  gross  fraud  or 
extravagance,  may  combine  and  take  the  management 
into  their  own  hands. 

"  But  the  good   effect  of  these   spasms  of  public 


MATTHEW  P.   DEADY.  637 

virtue  are  not  permanent.  The  cause  of  the  evil — 
the  vicious  and  irresponsible  vote — is  left  untouched. 
The  leisure  class,  the  men  who  from  defective  organ 
ization  or  training  are  unfitted  for  or  indisposed  to 
labor  in  the  ordinary  vocations  of  life,  return  to  the 
work,  and  are  soon  battling  away  again,  night  and  day, 
under  and  above  ground,  in  the  press,  the  primaries, 
and  at  the  polls,  for  the  lost  places.  The  busy  people 
go  back  to  their  private  affairs  and  are  soon  absorbed 
in  them,  and  ere  long  things  are  as  they  were  before. 
Each  failure  of  these  occasional  efforts  at  reform  to 
accomplish  any  abiding  result,  diminishes  the  chance 
of  their  being  repeated.  Men  tire  of  rolling  the 
municipal  stone  up  hill,  only  to  see  it,  as  soon  as 
their  backs  are  turned,  go  down  again.  .  .  . 

"  Learning,  without  honest  and  good  government,  is 
a  mere  whitened  sepulchre.  And  such  government, 
while  our  towns  and  cities,  the  nerve  centers  of  the 
body  politic,  are  under  the  control  of  the  ignorance, 
poverty,  and  vice  that  inhabit  them,  or  of  those  who 
use  and  abuse  them,  is  simply  impossible. 

"  The  danger  is  no  longer  indefinite  or  in  the  dis 
tance.  The  virus  of  municipal  corruption  and  mis 
management  is  steadily  extending  to  the  affairs  of 
state  and  nation.  Political  parties  systematically  use 
the  places  and  pickings  in  municipal  affairs  as  a  sort 
of  feeding  and  training  ground  for  their  workers  and 

o  O     O  9      '      m 

strikers  in  general  politics.  From  there,  in  time,  they 
graduate  into  state  and  national  politics,  and  carry 
with  them  the  morals  and  tactics  of  the  well-drilled 
ward  club. 

"  Nothing  can  check  this  movement  but  a  reform  in 
municipal  politics,  and  this  can  only  be  done  by 
eliminating  the  irresponsible  voter  from  municipal 
suffrage.  We  have  seen  that  the  indebtedness  of  the 
towns  and  cities  of  the  United  States  has  increased 
during  the  last  decade,  a  period  of  peace  and  com 
parative  prosperity,  one  hundred  fold.  Probably  the 
greater  portion  of  this  went  to  the  support  of  politics, 


638  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

municipal  bosses,  and  their  henchmen,  for  which  pur 
pose  they  were  primarily,  though  not  professedly, 
incurred. 

"  The  robber  baron  of  the  middle  ages,  with  his 
devoted  and  dangerous  following  of  armed  retainers, 
has  passed  away.  We  only  know  of  them  from  the 
pages  of  history  and  romance.  Civilization  is  no 
longer  in  danger  from  them.  But  human  nature  is 
much  the  same  under  all  circumstances.  In  our 
large  cities  they  have  reappeared  in  the  form  of  a 
vulgar  and  rapacious  plutocracy  and  an  ignorant  and 
vicious  rabble,  which  together  menace  the  existence 
of  a  republican  form  of  government.  Though  far 
apart  socially,  in  politics,  so  called,  they  are  natural 
and  effective  allies.  With  the  cheaply  purchased 
votes  of  the  latter,  the  gilded  bullies  of  the  former 
rob  the  wealth  and  crush  the  industries  of  the  cities 
as  ruthlessly  as  ever  did  their  lawless,  mail-clad  pro 
totypes,  the  Front  de  Boeufs  and  De  la  Marks  of 
centuries  ago." 

On  November  4,  1873,  in  the  charge  to  the  grand 
j  ury  of  the  United  States  district  court  of  Oregon, 
upon  the  subject  of  bribery  at  elections,  he  said  : 

"  The  success  of  a  government  based  upon  universal 
suffrage  and  frequent  elections,  pre-supposes  that  the 
elector  will  give  his  vote  upon  considerations  of  pub 
lic  policy,  and  the  fitness  of  the  candidate  for  the 
office  to  be  filled,  and  not  otherwise. 

"  When  this  condition  of  things  ceases  to  be  the 
rule,  and  votes  are  given  or  withheld  by  reason  of 
'  force,  threat,  menace,  intimidation,  bribery,  reward, 
or  offer  or  promise  thereof,'  the  days  of  the  repub 
lic  are  numbered,  and  it  will  not  be  long  ere  it  dies 
in  its  own  stench. 

"A  representative  government,  elected  and  sus 
tained  by  the  free  and  unpurchased  votes  of  honest 
and  intelligent  citizens,  is  probably  the  most  desira 
ble  state  of  civil  society  known  to  man;  while  on  the 
other  hand,  such  a  government,  resting  upon  and 


MATTHEW  P.    DEADY.  639 

reflecting  the  result  of  corrupt  and  dishonest  elec 
tions,  is  an  organized  anarchy,  more  intolerable  and 
unjust  than  any  other.  It  is  the  triumph  of  vice 
over  virtue — the  means  by  which  evil  men  bear 
sway. 

"  The  use  of  money  in  elections,  particularly  in  the 
large  towns  and  cities,  is  fast  becoming  a  dangerous 
evil.  If  not  prevented,  our  elections  will  in  effect 
soon  become  what  the  election  for  an  emperor  was 
in  the  decline  of  Rome — a  sale  of  the  empire  by  the 
mercenaries  of  the  pretorian  guard  to  the  highest 
bidder. 

"The  use  of  money  in  elections,  besides  being  in 
nine  cases  out  of  ten  radically  wrong  and  corrupt, 
imposes  in  the  end  a  heavy  and  unjust  tax  upon  the 
property  and  industry  of  the  country. 

"  By  one  indiscretion  or  another,  through  the  acts 
and  influence  of  those  who  are  elected  by  this  money, 
the  public  are  compelled  to  return  it  with  interest- 
often  an  hundred  fold — to  the  persons  who  furnished 
it." 

In  the  fall  of  1864,  the  legislature  of  Oregon  had 
a  resolution  before  it  concerning  General  Russell,  who 
had  served  in  Oregon,  and  just  bravely  met  his  death 
with  Sheridan  in  the  Shenandoah  valley.  The  reso 
lution  was  pitched  in  a  high  key,  and  some  prosy, 
cynical  wags  in  and  out  of  the  house  were  disposed 
to  sneer  and  laugh  it  down.  At  the  request  of  the 
mover,  Judge  Deady  dashed  off  an  article  in  support 
of  the  resolution,  the  publication  of  which  checked 
the  opposition  and  secured  its  passage.  It  may  be 
found  at  length  in  Schuck's  Representative  Men  of 
the  Pacific  (107).  As  a  specimen  of  eloquent  off-hand 
composition  we  quote  a  few  lines : 

"  The  resolution,  as  befits  the  occasion,  has  the  ring 
of  the  trumpet,  and  a  touch  of  true  poetic  fire. 
When  a  generous  people  desire  '  to  honor  the  patriot 
dead,'  or  'to  encourage  their  gallant  living,'  their 


640  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

language  should  rise  above  the  prosy  platitudes  of  a 
constable's  writ  or  an  inventory  of  goods  and  chattels. 

"If  you  would  have  men  die  for  their  country, 
remember  those  who  thus  die.  Let  the  memorial 
of  the  brave  departed  be  such  as  to  warm  the  hearts 
and  elevate  the  aspirations  of  those  who  come  after 
them.  The  dream  of  obtaining  a  monument  among 
the  illustrious  dead  of  Westminster  abbey  has  done 
more  to  maintain  the  dominion,  prowess,  and  prosper 
ity  of  England,  than  all  the  gold  of  her  commerce, 
twice  told  and  repeated. 

"  Thus  Rome  deified  her  dead  and  inspired  the 
living,  until,  with 

•  brave  Horatius, 
The  captain  of  the  gate, 

a  Roman  was  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  himself  for  his 
country,  exclaiming  : 

How  can  a  man  die  better 

Than  by  facing  fearful  odds, 
For  the  ashes  of  his  fathers, 

And  the  temples  of  his  Gods  ? 

In  the  course  of  a  fourth  of  July  oration,  delivered 
at  Portland  in  1885,  he  paid  the  following  tribute 
to  Washington  and  Hamilton : 

"  The  records  of  Hamilton's  labors  and  achievements 
will  ever  remain  a  monument  of  his  comprehensive 
patriotism,  his  freedom  from  sectional  prejudices,  and 
his  matchless  ability  as  a  statesman  and  jurist.  No 
celebration  of  this  day,  no  commemoration  of  these 
events,  is  just  or  complete  without  the  grateful  men 
tion  and  remembrance  of  these  two  names,  Washing 
ton  and  Hamilton,  the  two  men  who,*more  than  any 
others,  not  only  achieved  the  independence  of  the 
colonies,  but  saved  them  from  subsequent  anarchy 
and  discord — gave  them  a  constitutional  and  free  gov 
ernment,  equal  to  the  exigencies  of  peace  or  war, 
and  made  them  in  fact  as  well  as  name,  the  United 
States  of  America,  one  and  indivisable,  let  us  hope, 
now  and  forever," 


MATTHEW  P.   DEADY.  641 

And  in  an  address  delivered  at  the  same  place  on 
the  centennial  of  Washington's  inauguration,  he  said: 

"  I  have  thus  endeavored  in  the  short  time  at  my 
disposal,  to  give  an  estimate  of  Washington  as  a 
soldier,  statesman,  and  patriot,  derived  from  his 
acts  and  declarations,  and  the  opinions  of  those 
best  qualified  to  speak  of  him.  He  is,  in  my  judg 
ment,  by  far  the  grandest  figure  in  American  his 
tory  ;  and  I  doubt  if  he  has  a  superior  in  the  mod 
ern  world.  Other  men  may  have  exceeded  him  in 
some  particular,  but  in  the  general  average,  none. 
He  was  an  all  around,  well  balanced,  great  man, 
equal  to  any  emergency  and  capable  of  rising  to  any 
occasion. 

"  His  name  is  inscribed  high  up  on  the  roll  of  the 
few  great  worthies  of  the  world,  never  to  be  dimmed 
or  displaced. 

The  winged  years,  that  winnow  praise  and  blame, 
Blow  many  names  out;  they  but  fan  to  flame 
The  self-renewing  splendors  of  his  name. 

"  Few  of  us  stop  to  think,  or  are  even  aware,  of  the 
incalculable  benefit  to  this  or  any  people,  of  having 
such  a  life  woven  into  their  early  history,  as  an 
example  and  incentive  to  good  and  noble  deeds,  from 
pure  and  exalted  motives,  in  both  public  and  private 
life. 

On  the  death  of  Chief  Justice  Waite,  in  response 
to  resolutions  by  the  bar  of  the  United  States  circuit 
court,  Judge  Deady  said  : 

"  The  death  of  the  chief  justice  of  the  supreme 
court  of  the  United  States  is  felt  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land.  A  vacancy  in  this 
exalted  tribunal  affects  the  interest  of  the  whole  com 
munity.  A  century  ago,  the  men  who  achieved  the 
independence  of  the  colonies,  assembled  in  Philadel 
phia,  with  George  Washington  at  their  head,  to  lay 
the  foundation  of  a  new  government,  whereby  the 
liberty  and  independence  won  by  their  swords  might 
be  defined  and  preserved  by  the  authority  and  sanction 

C.  B.— II.    41 


642  GOVERNMENT- OREGON. 

of  law.  As  an  essential  part  of  this  political  fabric  they 
provided  for  a  supreme  court  with  power  to  act  as 
a  final  arbiter  between  the  '  New  Nation '  and  its 
constituent  parts — the  several  states  and  the  people 
thereof. 

Fresh  from  the  learning  and  example  of  the  great 
lawyers  and  statesmen  of  the  convention  parliament, 
who  a  century  before  under  the  lead  of  Somers  had 
secured  to  Great  Britain  a  judiciary  whose  tenure  of 
office  no  longer  depended  on  the  interest  or  caprice 
of  the  crown,  they  placed  this  court  of  final  resort 
above  the  vicissitudes  of  party  and  the  clamor  of  fac 
tion,  by  providing  in  the  constitution  for  the  inde 
pendence  and  permanency  of  its  judges.  And  the 
result  has  verified  their  expectations  and  shown  the 
wisdom  of  their  actions.  The  court  has  proven  itself 
the  keystone  of  the  arch  which  binds  the  union 
together— the  very  acropolis  of  the  constitution." 

In  a  Fourth  of  July  address  delivered  at  Van 
couver  in  1889,  he  said: 

"  In  the  constitution  of  Washington,  by  all  means 
make  the  term  of  the  judicial  officer  not  less  than  ten 
years,  and  the  salary  not  less  than  $5,000,  and  we 
may  be  shamed  into  following  your  good  example. 
A  learned,  honest,  and  independent  judiciary  is  the 
corner-stone  of  a  good  social  fabric.  But  ordinarily 
a  judge  cannot  be  honest  who  is  not  independent,  and 
the  judge  is  not  independent  who  is  ready,  or  who,  on 
account  of  the  shortness  of  his  term,  is  tempted  to 
look  around  and  count  heads,  before  he  is  warm  in 
his  seat,  with  a  view  to  reelection.  Limit  the  suf 
frage  to  citizens  of  the  United  States.  There  are 
plenty  of  people  in  the  country  to  do  the  voting 
without  including  unnaturalized  foreigners  in  the 
list,  who  have  simply  declared  their  intentions  and 
may  never  go  any  farther.  Provide  that  a  majority 
of  a  jury  may  find  a  verdict  in  all  cases,  or  at  least 
do  not  tie  the  hands  of  the  legislature  so  that  it  can- 


MATTHEW   P.    DEADY.  643 

not  be  done  hereafter.  This  is  a  very  important 
matter.  The  constitution  of  the  jury  must  be 
reformed  in  this  particular,  if  this  institution  is  not 
to  become  an  impediment  to  the  administration  of 
justice.  All  those  who  thrive  by  the  defence  of 
criminals,  and  consider  a  hung  jury,  even  if  by  one 
to  eleven,  next  thing  to  an  acquittal,  will  be  found 
generally  opposing  this  reform.  It  could  have  no 
better  commendation  to  the  people  at  large." 

In  responding  to  the  toast,  The  State  of  Oregon, 
at  the  Queen's  birthday  dinner,  in  Portland,  1886,  he 
said : 

"Oregon  did  not  grow  up  leaning  on  the  arm  of 
an  elder  sister,  or  become  organized  as  an  annex  to  a 
neighboring  state,  like  the  members  of  the  union 
north  and  west  of  the  Ohio  river.  It  was  not  formed 
by  the  mere  gradual  and  unpremeditated  overflow  of 
population  from  one  degree  of  longitude  to  another, 
as  oil  spreads  over  paper.  But,  like  Virginia  and 
Massachusetts  and  other  colonies  on  the  Atlantic 
seaboard  founded  two  centuries  earlier,  it  was  from 
the  beginning  a  distinct  and  separate  settlement  of 
self-governing  and  directing  people.  The  pioneers  of 
the  Pacific,  like  those  of  the  Atlantic,  were  separated 
from  their  point  of  migration  by  thousands  of  miles 
of  trackless  waste. 

"  Indeed,  the  state  of  Oregon  was  more  autono 
mous  in  its  origin  and  early  growth  than  any  state 
within  the  limits  of  the  union.  The  Atlantic 
colonies,  save  perhaps  the  small  matter  of  the  Ply 
mouth  rock  congregation,  who  were  soon  absorbed  in 
the  Massachusetts  bay  colony,  were  planted  and 
watered  by  some  powerful  company  or  proprietor  in 
England,  and  largely  directed  and  aided  thereby. 

"  But  the  Oregon  colony  was  emphatically  a  popu 
lar,  political  movement,  conducted  by  private  persons 
without  any  recognized  head  or  concerted  plan.  It 
was  really  one  of  those  singular  movements  of  the 


644  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

human  race  in  which  numbers  of  people,  without  pre 
concert  or  purpose,  are  moved  by  some  common  con 
trolling  impulse,  to  transplant  themselves  to  some 
unknown  and  remote  region  ;  and  having  done  so 
proceed  at  once,  as  by  a  political  habit  or  instinct,  to 
unite  together  in  a  civil  society  and  found  a  state, 
upon  whose  escutcheon  they  did  and  might  well 
inscribe,  Alls  volat  propriis. 

In  responding  to  the  toast — The  United  States— 
on  a  similar  occasion  in  1884,  he  said  : 

"  Go  back  with  me,  if  you  will,  to  the  period 
between  the  13th  and  17th  centuries,  the  most  fruitful 
period  in  the  world's  history.  Europe  had  awakened 
from  the  deep  sleep  or  long  incubation  of  the  middle 
ages.  The  first  important  event  was  the  invention  of 
gunpowder.  Then  the  weapon  of  warfare  was  changed 
from  the  sword  and  spear  of  the  mailed  knight  to 
the  firelock  of  the  common  soldier.  Next  followed 
the  art  of  printing,  by  which  the  thought  of  the  few 
was  diffused  throughout  the  world,  and  made  the  prop 
erty  of  the  many.  This  was  naturally  followed  by  the 
revival  of  learning ;  and  then  came  the  natural  climax 
and  crown  of  the  movement — the  Reformation. 
Then  thought  wTas  made  free,  and  man  was  permitted 
to  think  for  himself.  Society  was  stirred  to  its  inmost 
depths.  Old  customs  were  overthrown,  and  old  ideas 
were  everywhere  confronted  and  assailed  by  new. 

"  It  seems  providential  that  just  at  this  time  a  new 
world  should  be  discovered,  which  afforded  a  refuge 
and  elbow  room  for  all  the  new  thoughts  and  eccen 
tricities  of  the  old  world.  At  the  very  moment  of 
this  seething  turmoil  and  intellectual  ferment,  which 
poets  and  painters  are  pleased  to  call  the  renaissance, 
the  new  world  was  prepared  for  this  European  over 
flow,  which  came  in  groups  and  settlements  of  pil 
grims,  independents,  puritans,  baptists,  episcopalians, 
quakers,  Roman  catholics,  presbyterians,  Lutherans, 
and  Moravians,  together  with  many  shades  of  political 
opinion,  out  of  which  there  came  in  due  time  the 


MATTHEW  P.  DEADY.  645 

United  States,  the  free  American  citizen,  and  religious 
toleration." 

On  December  7,  1883,  Judge  Deady  published  an 
article  in  the  Morning  Oregonian,  which  is  preserved 
in  the  transactions  of  the  Pioneer  Association  of  that 
year.  In  the  course  of  it  occurs  the  following  ac 
count  of  the  preliminary  peace  talk  between  the 
Rogue  river  Indians  and  the  whites,  on  Sunday, 
September  4,  1853,  soon  after  the  battle  of  Evans 
or  Battle  creek,  on  the  north  side  of  Rogue  river, 
which  ended  in  a  truce  between  the  two  leaders — 
Indian  Joseph  and  Joseph  Lane. 

"The  scene  of  the  famous  'peace  talk'  between 
Joseph  Lane  and  Indian  Joseph— the  two  men  who 
had  so  lately  met  in  mortal  combat — was  worthy  of 
the  pen  of  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  the  pencil  of  Sal- 
vator  Rosa.  It  was  on  a  narrow  bench  of  a  long, 
gently  sloping  hill  lying  over  against  the  noted  bluff 
called  Table  rock.  The  ground  was  thinly  covered 
with  majestic  old  pines  and  rugged  oaks,  with  here 
and  there  a  clump  of  green  oak  bushes.  About  a 
half  mile  above  the  bright  mountain  stream  that 
threaded  the  narrow  valley  below  sat  the  two  chiefs 
in  council.  Lane  was  in  fatigue  dress,  the  arm  which 
was  wounded  at  Buena  Vista  being  in  a  sling,  from 
the  effects  of  a  fresh  wound  received  at  Battle  creek. 
Indian  Joseph,  tall,  grave,  and  self-possessed,  wore  a 
long  black  robe  or  cassock  over  his  ordinary  dress. 
By  his  side  sat  Mary,  his  favorite  child  and  faithful 
companion,  then  a  comparatively  handsome  young 
woman,  as  yet  unstained  with  the  vices  of  civiliza 
tion.  Around  these  sat  on  the  grass  Captain  A.  J. 
Smith,  who  had  just  arrived  from  Port  Orford  with 
his  company  of  the  first  dragoons,  Captain  Alvord, 
then  engaged  in  the  construction  of  a  military  road 
through  the  Umpqua  canon,  and  since  paymaster- 
general  of  the  U.  S.  A.,  Colonel  Bill  Martin  of 
Umpqua,  Colonel  John  E.  Ross,  of  Jacksonville, 


646  GOVERNMENT— OREGON, 

Captain  now  General  John  F.  Miller,  myself,  and  a 
few  others. 

"  A  short  distance  above  us  on  the  hillside  were 
some  hundreds  of  dusky  warriors  in  fighting  gear, 
reclining  quietly  on  the  ground.  The  day  was  beau 
tiful.  To  the  east  of  us  rose  abruptly  Table  rock, 
and  at  its  base  stood  Smith's  dragoons,  waiting  anx 
iously  with  hand  on  horse  the  issue  of  this  attempt 
oo  make  peace  without  their  aid.  After  a  proposition 
was  discussed  between  the  two  chiefs,  the  Indian 
would  rise  up  and  communicate  the  matter  to  a  huge 
warrior,  who  reclined,  unclad,  at  the  foot  of  a  tree 
quite  near  us.  Then  the  latter  rose  up  and  commu 
nicated  the  result  to  the  host  above  him,  and  they 
belabored  it  back  and  forth  with  many  voices.  Then 
the  warrior  transmitted  the  thought  of  the  multitude 
back  to  his  chief,  and  so  the  discussion  went  on,  un 
til  an  understanding  was  finally  reached.  Then  we 
separated,  the  Indians  going  back  to  their  mountain 
retreat,  and  the  whites  to  their  camp  on  the  river. 

"  That  evening  I  rode  up  to  Jacksonville,  through 
what  I  thought  was  the  most  picturesque  valley  I 
ever  saw.  The  next  morning  I  opened  in  due  form, 
the  United  States  district  court  for  the  county  of 
Jackson  —  the  first  court  that  was  ever  held  in  Ore 
gon  south  of  the  Umpqua  —  and  the  mandate  of  the 
law  superseded  the  stroke  of  the  sword." 

The  spirit  of  justice,  which  is  the  foundation  of 
all  law  worthy  of  the  name,  pervades  Judge  Deady's 
work.  Although  well  acquainted  with  forms  and  pre 
cedents  from  the  early  days  of  the  common  law,  he 
never  willingly  sacrifices  justice  to  either,  nor  con 
founds  the  kernel  of  truth  with  the  husk  of  appear 
ance. 

Yet  he  does  not  assume  the  rights  to  disregard  a 
settled  rule  of  law,  to  placate  a  public  opinion  which 
for  the  time  being  is  arrayed  against  its  enforcement 
in  a  particular  case. 

646 


MATTHEW  P.    DEADY.  647 

Knowing  this,  litigants  and  attorneys  who  rely  on 
the  law,  are  always  anxious  to  get  their  cases  before 
him,  where  they  are  sure  of  a  decision,  the  result  of 
industry,  learning,  integrity,  and  judgment.  Such  a 
standing  and  reputation  has  only  been  attained  by 
continuous  and  devoted  labor,  which  his  iron  constitu 
tion  has  enabled  him  to  endure  in  the  last  thirty  and 
more  years.  The  reports  are  full  of  his  decisions 
that  are  of  permanent  general  value — especially  to 
the  jurisprudence  of  the  Pacific  coast. 

It  is  one  of  the  admirable  characteristics  of  Judge 
Deady  that  he  always  tries  to  keep  himself  in  touch 
with  the  people.  He  makes  time  to  mingle  with 
them,  notwithstanding  the  great  and  unremitting 
pressure  of  his  judicial  duties.  He  goes  out  into 
the  country  or  visits  the  seaside  at  least  once  a  year. 
Thus  he  keeps  abreast  and  in  full  sympathy  with  the 
current  thought,  and  is  able  to  judge  of  the  force  of 
any  turn  of  public  opinion,  and  to  see  how  deep  or 
shallow  any  prejudice  may  be.  By  this  habit  of  life 
he  has  gained  a  vast  fund  of  practical  knowledge, 
and  has  made  a  very  wide  circle  of  acquaintances  in 
all  walks  of  life.  He  has  become  familiar  with  all 
the  professions.  He  knows  the  life  of  the  farmer, 
and  understands  the  tools  of  the  mechanic.  If  in 
any  case  a  point  comes  up  in  regard  to  some  mechani 
cal  device  about  which  he  is  in  doubt,  he  has  the 
machine  brought  into  court,  or  will  go  to  the  pains 
of  visiting  the  shop  where  it  may  be.  More  than 
this,  he  will,  if  necessary,  make  a  considerable  journey 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  some  particular  gear 
ing  or  machinery  in  operation.  Thus  he  has  become 
almost  an  expert  on  a  vast  number  of  practical  sub 
jects,  and  has  accumulated  a  great  store  of  practical 
knowledge  which  can  scarcely  be  equalled. 

One  quality  that  pervades  all  his  decisions  is  his 
great  moral  courage  ;  indeed  his  native  strength  in 
this  is  so  great  that  he  seems  unconscious  at  times 
that  he  is  moving  directly  counter  to  the  general 


648  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

prejudices  of  the  hour.  No  fear  of  popular  resent 
ment  has  ever  bent  him  from  the  direct  line  of  justice, 
and  no  allurements  have  been  strong  enough  to  cajole 
him  into  doing  anything  of  which  his  conscience  did 
not  approve.  He  is  ever  ready  to  protect  the  poor 
and  helpless  against  the  encroachments  of  a  powerful 
corporation,  and  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  a  corporation 
is  sure  of  receiving  full  justice  from  him.  It  would 
seem  as  though  the  judge  had  taken  well  to  heart 
the  wisdom  of  Plato,  and  that  he  has  planted  in  the 
valleys  and  mountains  of  Oregon  that  love  of  law, 
that  supreme  insight  into  the  all  importance  of  the 
state,  and  that  devotion  to  truth  which  are  the 
marked  characteristics  of  the  greatest  of  Grecian 
philosophers.  And  that  he  impressed  these  great 
truths  upon  the  young  commonwealth  by  the  force  of 
manly  example  and  timely  precept  is  one  of  the  most 
fortunate  circumstances  in  the  history  of  Oregon. 

Although  Judge  Deady's  great  life-work  has  been 
done  upon  the  bench,  he  is  too  large  a  man,  and  his 
interest  in  the  true  welfare  of  the  community  is  too 
deep-seated,  to  permit  him  to  confine  himself  exclu 
sively  to  the  calling  that  he  graces  so  well.  His  sym 
pathies  are  with  every  movement  that  tends  to  the 
improvement  of  the  community  as  a  whole.  Thus  it 
came  perfectly  natural  to  him  to  give  active  assistance 
to  the  organization  of  the  Library  Association  of  Port 
land  in  1864,  and  that  institution  to-day, — standing  as 
it  does,  as  one  of  the  best  organized  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  owes  much  of  its  usefulness  to  the  pains  which 
he  has  taken  with  it.  Its  management  from  the  first 
has  been  beyond  criticism.  He  has  been  its  acting 
president  for  over  twenty  years,  and  has  solicited  and 
obtained  most  of  the  funds  that  go  to  make  up  its 
endowment  of  nearly  $150,000.  A  large  portion  of 
the  books  upon  the  shelves  were  selected  by  him,  and 
one  can  imagine  how  congenial  such  a  task  as  this 
must  be  to  a  man  of  his  cultivated  and  scholarly 
tastes.  Regularly  on  Saturday  afternoon  of  each 


MATTHEW  P.   DEADY.  649 

week  he  may  be  seen  in  the  library  rooms,  in  consul 
tation  with  Mr  Oxer,  the  librarian,  concerning:  the 

'  O 

condition  of  the  institution,  giving  directions  and  mak 
ing  suggestions  concerning  the  purchase  of  new  books, 
and  the  like;  so  that  if  he  is  wanted  for  any  purpose, 
between  2  and  4  P.  M.  of  that  day,  people  go  to  the 
library  rooms  to  find  him. 

The  cause  of  higher  education  has  found  in  Judge 

CJ  O 

Deady  an  earnest  and  judicious  advocate.  In  1876 
he  was  appointed  a  regent  of  the  university  of 
Oregon,  which  had  just  then  been  located  at  Eugene. 
He  has  served  in  this  capacity,  and  also  as  president 
of  the  board  ever  since.  Several  commencement 
addresses  have  been  delivered  by  him,  and  the  reader 
of  these  is  struck  at  once  by  the  breadth  of  wisdom, 
the  depth  of  learning,  and  the  thorough  familiarity 
with  all  the  leading  authors  which  they  present. 
Addresses  so  polished  and  learned  could  not  fail  to 
have  a  great  and  beneficial  influence  on  the  young 
graduates.  The  pearls  of  Montaigne,  Middleton,  and 
Burke  glisten  and  shine  on  the  thread  of  his  discourse 
along  with  the  gems  of  Bacon,  Franklin,  and  Dr  John 
son.  Yet  he  did  not  hesitate  to  give  a  touch  of  crit 
icism,  when  it  seemed  necessary,  to  point  his  hearers 
to  the  highest  standard.  "  The  aim  of  the  scholar," 
he  says,  "  should  be  far  above  that  of  the  low  utili 
tarian  philosophy  of  Franklin,  which  has  borne  its 
legitimate  fruit  in  the  worship  of  the  creature 
instead  of  the  creator,  and  the  substitution  of  the 
sensual  test — Will  it  pay  ?  for  the  spiritual  one — Is  it 
right  ?  We  should  remember  that  it  is  better  to 
know  the  meanino"  of  the  stars  than  to  be  able  to 

O 

count  them — that  it  is  of  more  importance  to  be  able 
to  answer  the  old  and  ever  recurring  question — Quid 
est  verifas? — than  to  have  invented  a  sauce  or  jumping- 
jack,  or  discovered  a  mine  or  the  source  of  the  Nile. 
True  greatness  is  more  or  less  moral,  and  is  only 
reached  by  living  under  the  constant  influence  of  a 
lofty  ideal,  even  though  it  may  never  be  realized." 


650  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

Whether  with  light  and  graceful  fancy  he  dis 
coursed  to  the  students  on  the  subject  of  manners, 
reminding  them  that  William  of  Wykeham,  lord 
chancellor  of  England,  chose  for  his  motto :  "  Man 
ners  maketh  Man,"  and  that  Middleton  said  :  "Virtue 
itself  offends  when  coupled  with  forbidding  manners," 
or  showed  with  reason  and  logic  that  the  higher  aim 

O  O 

of  life  is  to  be,  rather  than  to  have,  or  discussed  the 
practical  problem  of  municipal  government,  his  words 
were  weighted  with  wisdom  and  strong  common  sense. 

Judge  Deady  has  not  striven  for  distinction  in  the 
field  of  oratory.  His  position  on  the  bench  has  pre 
cluded  it.  But  with  his  poetic  fancy  and  love  of  the 
sublime  and  beautiful,  in  nature  and  art,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  had  he  remained  at  the  bar  he  would 
have  been  distinguished  as  a  public  speaker. 

His  addresses  and  lectures  are  not  the  flimsy  pro 
ductions  that  depend  for  their  success  upon  the  tran 
sient  enthusiasm  of  the  moment  of  delivery ;  their 
value  and  importance  lie  in  the  great  truths,  forcibly 
and  aptly  told,  which  they  bring  home  to  the  audi 
tors.  Like  the  great  classic  orations,  they  are  best 
understood  and  most  highly  prized  after  they  have 
been  quietly  read  and  thought  upon.  The  wide 
knowledge  of  history,  the  deep  and  philosophical 
insight  into  political  growth  and  organization,  and  the 
clear  perception  of  the  needs  of  society  make  them  a 
rich  mine.  The  quality  that  most  impresses  one  is 
the  broad  comprehensiveness  with  which  he  takes 
up  his  subject.  His  view  covers  the  entire  field, 
and  he  brings  out  in  true  proportion  the  essential  facts 
which  enter  into  the  subject  that  he  is  speaking 
upon.  And  thus  it  is,  that  his  words  sink  into  the 
memory  and  abide  there,  as  did  the  address  of  Lin 
coln  at  Gettysburg,  which  completely  overshadowed 
the  brilliant  effort  of  William  Everett. 

Judge  Deady  grew  up  a  democrat.  He  first  took 
an  interest  in  politics  in  favor  of  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  in  1844.  He  says : 


MATTHEW  P.   DEADY.  651 

"  By  the  time  I  was  thirty  years  of  age  I  had  pretty 
thoroughly  studied  the  constitution  and  political  his 
tory  of  the  United  States  for  myself.  Among  others 
I  had  read  Jefferson's  Works,  Webster's  and  Calhoun's 
speeches,  Washington's  messages,  and  Hamilton's 
reports,  the  report  of  Burr's  trial  and  Chase's  impeach 
ment,  and  Marshal's  life  of  Washington,  and  became 
on  general  principles,  what  might  be  called  a  feder 
alist — a  believer  in  the  doctrine  that  the  constitution 
created  a  government  for  a  nation,  supreme  in  its 
sphere,  and  the  ultimate  judge  of  its  own  powers,  and 
not  a  mere  compact  between  independent  or  sovereign 
states  to  be  terminated  at  the  will  and  pleasure  of 
either  of  them.  And  therefore,  when  the  southern 
states  undertook  to  withdraw  from  the  union,  I  con 
sidered  they  were  engaged  in  a  rebellion  against  the 
lawful  authority  of  the  national  government,  which 
the  latter  had  a  right  to  suppress  by  any  of  the 
means  known  to  civilized  warfare.  And  this,  not 
withstanding  my  sympathies  had  been  with  the 
southern  people  on  account  of  the  unfriendly,  irritat 
ing,  and  ceaseless  attacks  by  many  northern  people 
and  some  states  on  the  composition  of  southern 
society,  and  particularly  negro  slavery. 

"  Since  the  commencement  of  the  war,  I  have  gen 
erally  acted  with  the  republican  party,  as  the  one  that 
best  represented  my  idea  of  the  supremacy  of  the 
national  government,  the  resumption  of  specie  pay 
ments,  a  sound  currency,  the  payment  of  the  national 
debt  in  gold  coin,  the  reform  of  the  civil  service,  the 
supremacy  of  the  law,  and  the  restraint  and  subordi 
nation,  as  far  as  practicable,  of  the  vices  and  dangerous 
pursuits  of  society,  to  the  well-being  thereof.  In  the 
case  of  administrative  officers,  I  generally  vote  for  the 
best  man,  and  I  suppose,  might  be  called  a  mugwump." 

Judge  Deady's  parents  were  Roman  catholics,  and 
he  was  nurtured  in  that  faith  when  young.  After 
leaving  home  in  1841,  he  became  acquainted  with 
protestant  ideas  and  forms  of  worship,  and  learned  to 


652  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

think  for  himself.  His  professional  and  general  read 
ing  predisposed  him  to  English  precedents  in  politics 
and  religion.  Mrs  Deady,  on  the  other  hand,  was 
reared  a  presbyterian.  On  going  to  Portland  to  live 
they  took  refuge  in  the  episcopal  church,  of  which  the 
judge  has  been  a  vestryman  for  many  years.  He 
has  also  taken  an  interest  in  the  charitable  and  edu 
cational  institutions,  in  Portland,  under  the  control  of 
that  church,  such  as  the  Good  Samaritan  hospital,  the 
Bishop  Scott  acadern}r,  and  St  Helen's  hall. 

Besides  a  great  number  of  oral  judgments,  and  trial 
of  cases  involving  large  amounts,  or  grave  criminal 
charges,  Judge  Deady  has  written  about  350  opinions 
since  his  advent  of  the  bench,  involving  many  import 
ant  and  interesting  questions  affecting  the  rule  of  the 
common  law,  or  the  proper  construction  of  the  state 
and  federal  statutes  and  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  the  state.  These  opinions  are  recorded  in 
Deady's  Reports  and  Sawyers  Reports,  from  volume  1 
to  volume  14  inclusive. 

His  personal  appearance  is  portrayed  in  the  follow 
ing  description  given  by  one  well  qualified  to  do  so  : 
"  Judge  Deady  has  a  fine  physical  presence,  so  that 
he  fills  the  eye,  as  one  fitted  to  pronounce  and  to 
enforce.  Time,  in  whitening  his  once  auburn  beard 
and  the  locks  that  curl  about  his  head,  has  added  the 
external  suggestions  of  the  sage.  Six  feet  two  inches 
in  height,  and  weighing  about  two  hundred  and  thirty 
pounds,  he  is  in  due  proportion,  and  looks  neither 
too  heavy  nor  too  slim.  His  eyes  are  bluish-gray, 
with  a  twinkle  at  the  corners  which  betrays  amuse 
ment,  even  at  times  when  in  deference  to  judicial 
dignity  the  face  remains  impassive — a  noble  face, 
capable  of  quickly  passing  from  this  expression  to  a 
frown  of  the  brow  and  an  angry  light  in  the  eyes. 
His  brow  is  broad  and  massive ;  the  back  of  the 
head  broader,  and  well  rounded.  To  speak  by  the 
hatter,  he  has  a  7J  head.  The  nose  is  rather  promi 
nent,  straight  and  well  bridged,  neither  bony  nor 


MATTHEW  P.    DEADY.  653 

fleshy.  A  strong  mouth,  rather  large,  and  sugges 
tive  of  that  sensuous  (not  sensual)  quality  almost 
invariably  accompanying  good  intellectual  power,— 
i.  e.,  an  appreciation  of  the  things  of  the  senses, 
whether  a  picture,  a  beauty,  or  a  fat  capon  and  a 
bottle  of  burgundy.  His  hands  and  feet  are  rather 
small  for  his  size  and  weight,  but,  in  common  with 
the  rest  of  his  frame,  suggesting  bodily  power.  As 
he  rises  from  the  surf  in  his  favorite  pastime  of  sea 
bathing,  with  dripping  locks  and  beard,  and  great 
proportions,  he  suggests  the  Neptune  of  the  Greek 
coins  and  gems.  And,  passing  from  his  mere  bodily 
appearance  to  a  better  characteristic,  in  connection 
with  his  office  and  his  nature,  it  may  be  said  he  has  a 
kindly  sympathy  with  every  jroung  and  struggling 
lawyer  ;  and  to  each  he  extends  what  aid  he  can  by 
instruction,  advice,  and  that  more  positive  assistance 
which  lies  within  his  power  to  distribute  from  time  to 
time." 

In  conclusion  we  heartily  adopt  the  saying  of  his 
biographer  in  the  History  of  Portland :  "  All  his  aims 
are  noble  and  his  methods  just." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

LIFE  OF  HENRY  W.   CORBETT. 

A  BUILDER  OF  EMPIRE — ANCESTORS  AND  PARENTS  — BOYHOOD  —  BUSINESS 
VENTURES  IN  OREGON — THE  NORTHERN  PACIFIC  RAILROAD — THE  FIRST 
NATIONAL  BANK — PORTLAND  BOARD  OF  TRADE— BOYS  AND  GIRLS'  AID 
SOCIETY  —  CORBETT,  FAILING  &  COMPANY  —  BENEFACTIONS — POLITICAL 
CAREER — MARRIAGE — CHILDREN— RESIDENCE — APPEARANCE  AND  CHAR 
ACTER. 

As  I  advance  in  the  biographical -historical  or 
historical-biographical  study  of  the  Pacific  Coast, 
the  more  attractive  it  grows  and  the  more  interest 
ing  it  appears,  and  I  am  not  less  disposed  to  be 
proud  of  my  plan  now,  than  when  I  conceived  it, 
though  I  find  it  even  better  in  execution  than  I  had 
regarded  it  in  theory.  This  fact  is  so  assuring  that, 
had  I  ever  advanced  any  claims  to  credit  for  the  plan 
which  came  unsolicited  into  my  mind,  I  could  cheer 
fully  relinquish  such  claims.  But  I  have  never  had  a 
moment's  apprehension  as  to  the  advantage  and  charm 
of  studying  history  through  the  medium  of  actual 
live  history-makers.  I  have  enjoyed  constantly  a 
fixed  and  glowing  faith  in  the  subject.  I  have  been 
asked  why  call  plain  men,  citizens  of  the  common 
wealth,  kings?  If  I  could  have  found  a  title  more 
significant  of  creation,  control,  manhood,  character — 
these  terms  used  in  the  fullness  of  their  truth  and 
spirit,  I  would  have  employed  it,  but  let  the  text, 
which  is  a  web  of  facts,  speak  and  answer  the  ques 
tion  for  itself. 

(654) 


HENRY  W.  CORBETT.  655 

Little  did  the  pilgrim  fathers  realize  what  they 
were  doing,  and  with  equal  truth  may  this  remark  be 
applied  to  the  pioneers  of  Oregon.  By  these  men 
and  by  those  who  followed  them  while  yet  its  settle 
ments  were  in  their  infancy  were  laid,  broad  and 
deep,  the  foundations  of  a  state  which  is  destined  be 
yond  a  perad venture  to  become  one  of  the  richest  and 
most  steadily  prosperous  sections  of  the  union.  In 
each  of  the  two  last  decades  her  population  has  almost 
doubled,  and  there  is  no  indication  that  this  rate  of 
increase  will  be  diminished  for  many  years  to  come, 
for  should  it  continue  for  half  a  century,  there  will 
still  remain  a  large  area  of  unoccupied  land.  Consid 
ering  her  great  extent  of  fertile  soil,  her  vast  and  ac 
cessible  deposits  of  coal  and  iron,  her  boundless  forests 
with  all  their  varieties  of  merchantable  timber, 
her  thousand  miles  of  inland  navigation,  her  abun 
dant  water-power,  and  her  other  manifold  resources, 
it  may,  indeed,  be  said  that  she  is  only  on  the  thresh- 
hold  of  her  career.  That  these  resources  have  already 
been  largely  developed,  appears  from  the  fact  that  in 
1881,  with  a  population  of  less  than  200,000,  her  ex 
ports  already  exceeded  $20,000,000. 

For  Portland  it  is  claimed  that  her  inhabitants 
possess  more  wealth  per  capita  than  those  of  any  other 
city  in  the  United  States,  and  this  is  no  cause  for 
wonder,  considering  her  position  as  a  business  centre, 
as  a  seaport  and  railroad  terminus,  and  as  the  seat  of 
manufacturing  and  other  industrial  enterprises.  For 
1880  the  value  of  her  manufactures  and  her  wholesale 
commercial  transactions  exceeded  $30,000,000,  and 
they  are  now  probably  not  less  than  $50,000,000  a 
year.  With  capital  and  business  ability  the  metropo 
lis  is  amply  supplied,  and  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the 
proportion  of  wholesale  to  retail  houses  is  unusually 
large. 

Prominent  among  the  men  by  whom  these  results 
have  been  accomplished  is  Henry  Win  slow  Corbett, 
of  the  well  known  firm  of  Corbett,  Failing,  and  Com- 


656  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

pany,  who,  though  not  among  the  earliest  pioneers, 
has,  since  the  year  1851,  been  closely  identified  with^ 
the  interests  of  his  adopted  state.     But  it  is  not  alone 
as    one    of  the   leading    merchants   and    citizens    of 

O 

Oregon  that  this  gentleman  deserves  more  than  a 
passing  notice  in  these  pages.  As  a  banker,  a  rail 
road  man,  a  philanthropist,  a  scholar,  a  journalist— 
howsoever  one  may  reconcile  these  latter  vocations — 
and  above  all  as  a  statesman,  his  name  will  long  be 
remembered  among  the  list  of  those  who  have  been 
foremost  in  contributing  to  her  prosperity  and  great 
ness. 

The  progenitor  of  the  Corbett  family,  as  far  back 
as  the  record  goes,  was  Roger  Corbett,  a  military 
chieftain,  who  won  distinction  and  lands  under  Wil 
liam  I.,  in  the  conquest  of  England.  William  the 
eldest  son  of  Roger,  was  seated  at  Wattesborough. 
His  second  son,  Sir  Robert  Corbett,  baronet,  had  for 
his  inheritance  the  castle  and  the  estate  of  Caus,  with 
a  large  portion  of  his  father's  domain.  His  son  and 
namesake,  Robert,  went  to  the  siege  of  Acre  with 
Richard  I.,  bearing  for  arms  in  this  campaign  two 
ravens,  which  have  been  his  descendants'  crest  ever 
since. 

The  Corbetts  all  along  the  line  were  noteworthy 
men,  and  more  than  one  member  of  the  family  achieved 
respectable  place  in  the  government,  the  church,  and 
the  state,  as  well  as  in  the  learned  professions  of  their 
day.  One  of  the  original  stock  from  the  female  side 
holds  a  seat  in  parliament  at  this  time.  The  Corbetts 
in  America  are  their  lineal  descendants,  the  connection 
being  made  quite  clear  by  the  family  record  kept  at 
Mendon,  Massachusetts.  The  less  remote  ancestor 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  Henry  Winslow  Corbett, 
came  to  New  England  early  in  the  seventeenth  cen 
tury.  His  grandfather  and  father  were  both  named 
Elijah  Corbett.  His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Me- 
linda  Forbush.  He  was  born  at  Westborough,  Mas 
sachusetts,  February  18,  1827.  His  father  was  a 
mechanic,  and  the  first  manufacturer  of  edge  tools  in 


HENRY  W.  CORBETT.  657 

that  part  of  the  country,  a  man  of  skill  and  inventive 
ability.  His  parents  were  persons  of  respectability, 
intelligence  and  marked  features  of  character.  That 
their  son's  course  of  life  had  been  greatly  influenced 
by  inheriting  from  them  valuable  mental  and  moral 
qualities  there  can  be  no  doubt,  while  he  is  indebted 
to  them  for  wholesome  precepts  and  example  also. 

Of  their  eight  children,  of  whom  six  grew  up, 
Henry  Winslow  was  the  youngest  son.  His  early  boy 
hood  was  spent  in  Washington  county,  N.  Y.  He  re 
ceived  his  first  lessons  in  the  common  schools,  which 
were  noted  for  their  thoroughness.  Later  he  attended 
Cambridge  academy,  an  old  and  reputable  institution. 
He  took  the  regular  academy  course,  and  then  held 
for  a  year  a  clerkship  at  Salem,  the  county  seat. 
When  seventeen  years  of  age  he  went  to  New  York 
city,  and  engaged  in  the  dry  goods  business,  continu 
ing  in  it  until  January  1851.  He  had  established 
himself  in  the  confidence  of  the  business  men,  and  was 
intrusted  with  a  stock  of  goods,  shipped  around  the 
Horn  to  Portland  in  October  1850,  by  two  parties 
with  whom  he  had  been  associated.  The  agreement 
was  that  he  should  there  devote  three  years  to  mer 
chandising,  and  then  return  and  divide  the  proceeds ; 
the  object  being  to  gain  a  competency,  and  then  with 
draw.  He  sailed  from  New  York  January  20,  1851, 
on  the  Empire  City,  and  in  the  new  ship  Columbia 
from  Panama,  arriving  at  Astoria  March  4th. 
Thence  he  took  passage  on  a  small  river  steamer,  also 
named  the  Columbia,  for  Portland,  where  he  landed 
the  following  morning,  after  passing  the  night  on 
deck,  for  in  the  north-west  state-rooms  were  luxuries 
as  yet  unknown.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  made  a 
trip  through  the  Willamette  valley  on  horseback, 
stopping  at  Oregon  City,  Salem,  and  Albany.  The 
first  two  were  even  then  places  of  considerable  im 
portance,  although  the  entire  white  population  of  the 
territory,  which  at  that  date  included  Washington, 
Idaho,  and  a  part  of  Montana,  did  not  exceed  15,000 

C.  B.— II.    42 


658  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

souls.  At  Oregon  City  Mr  Corbett  met  with  John 
McLoughlin,  formerly  the  chief-factor  of  the  Hud 
son's  Bay  Company,  with  George  Abernethy,  the 
first  governor  of  Oregon  under  her  provisional  consti 
tution,  and  with  other  personages  who  have  since  be 
come  historical. 

Returning  to  Portland,  he  at  once  applied  himself 
to  business  with  all  the  zeal  and  earnestness  that  have 
stamped  his  career  in  life.  The  time  was  in  one  re 
spect  well  chosen,  for  during  this  year  there  arrived, 
direct  from  the  eastern  states,  thirteen  vessels  laden 
with  merchandise,  thus  making  Portland  the  commer 
cial  emporium  of  the  north-west.  Though  the  mar 
ket  was  somewhat  overstocked,  gold  was  plentiful,  or 
rather  gold-dust,  for  many  of  the  Oregon  pioneers, 
who  were  among  the  earliest  and  most  successful 
miners  in  California,  had  now  returned  with  plethoric 
purses,  whose  contents  they  distributed  with  lavish 
hand.  Moreover,  that  state  depended,  in  a  measure., 
on  her  northern  sister  for  supplies  of  lumber,  flour, 
beef,  pork,  and  other  products,  the  proceeds  of  which 
swelled  the  volume  of  circulation. 

Within  fourteen  months  Mr  Corbett  had  disposed 
of  his  entire  stock  of  goods,  and  by  the  advice  of  his 
partners  he  returned,  with  $20,000  as  the  net  profits 
for  division.  He  then  joined  his  partners  for  a  year 
in  business  in  New  York,  at  the  same  time  holding 
an  interest  with  his  successors  in  the  business  at  Port 
land,  but  he  saw  that  Portland  was  a  better  field  for 
him,  and  determined  to  do  business  in  his  own  name, 
returning  there  to  make  that  city  his  home.  He  pre 
ferred  it  as  the  base  of  his  operations,  rather  than 
take  the  chances  in  a  speculative  market  like  San 
Francisco,  for  he  was  accustomed  to  legitimate  busi 
ness.  He  is  the  oldest  merchant  in  Portland,  and 
perhaps  in  Oregon. 

Since  his  establishment  he  has  always  been  among 
the  prominent  men  of  the  north-west  in  enterprises 
looking  to  the  development  of  the  country,  and  he 


HENRY  W.  CORBETT.  659 

has  grown  up  with  it.  He  was  connected  with  and 
interested  in  those  early  transportation  enterprises  on 
the  rivers  that  have  been  of  such  great  influence  in 
enlarging'natural  resources,  revealing  new  capabilities, 
increasing;-  the  population  and  advancing  civilization. 

He  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  project  to  build 
the  Northern  Pacific  railroad,  and  while  in  the  senate 
labored  with  diligence  to  further  that  result,  having 
no  personal  interest  to  subserve  other  than  the  gen 
eral  good  of  the  state  and  the  north-west.  After  the 
failure  of  Jay  Cooke  to  carry  through  this  undertak 
ing,  and  some  years  after  the  reorganization  of  the 
company,  when  Henry  Villard  undertook  the  comple 
tion  of  the  road,  Mr  Corbett  took  a  pecuniary  inter 
est  as  well  as  a  general  interest  in  the  enterprise  of 
which  Mr  Villard  was  the  promoter.  He  is  largely 
interested  in  banking.  In  1869  he  and  Henry  Fail 
ing  obtained  the  control  of  the  First  National  bank, 
with  the  view  of  making  it  a  stronger  feature  in  the 
financial  affairs  of  the  city  and  state.  Established  in 
1865,  it  was  then  in  its  infancy,  but  has  grown  in 
magnitude  ever  since,  and  has  become  the  strongest 
national  bank  in  the  Pacific  northwest,  as  it  is  the 
oldest.  Henry  Failing  has  been  president  ever  since 
they  took  control,  and  Mr  Corbett  vice-president  since 
his  return  from  the  senate  and  a  seven  months'  trip 
in  Europe.  From  this  time  on  he  devoted  himself 
principally  to  local  interests. 

Mr  Corbett's  active  brain  originated  the  idea  of 
national  gold  banks  as  suited  to  the  currency  of  this 
coast,  but  as  greenbacks  rapidly  rose  to  par  his  happy 
invention  was  useful  only  for  the  period.  He  was 
elected  president  of  the  Portland  board  of  trade  so<  n 
after  its  organization,  and  continuously  thereafter  for 
a  number  of  'years  The  board  has  been  a  valuable 
factor  in  disseminating  information  on  all  important 
matters  pertaining  to  the  best  interests  of  the  com 
mercial  metropolis  and  the  state,  calling  the  attention 
of  the  government  to  needed  internal  improvements. 


660  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

He  has  been  connected  prominently  with  the  board 
of  immigration,  and  has  been  called  to  act  as  presi 
dent  of  various  associations  here — notably  the  Boys 
and  Girls'  Aid  Society,  the  beneficent  purpose  of 
which  is  to  secure  a  stay  of  punishment  in  the  case  of 
children  guilty  of  their  first  misdemeanor  or  crime,  with 
a  view  to  saving  them  from  the  demoralizing  effects 
of  companionship  with  degraded  convicts  in  the  county 
jails  or  state  prison.  Some  five  years  ago  c,  new 
children's  home  was  built  in  an  eligible  part  of  the 
city,  and  every  care  taken  to  surround  the  unfor 
tunates  with  good  influences,  and  save  them  from 
fatal  degradation.  The  noble  labor  of  providing  for 
them  a  cheerful  home  has  met  with  happy  results, 
largely  through  the  encouragement,  cooperation,  and 
material  support  of  Mr  Corbett,  and  citizens  who 
shared  his  humanitarian  views. 

While  in  the  senate  he  secured  the  appropriation 
for  the  United  States  building  at  Portland,  used  as 
post-office,  custom-house,  and  court-house;  also  for 
needed  improvements  of  river  and  harbors.  In  1866 
he  secured  the  government  contract  to  carry  the 
mails  from  Portland  to  Lincoln,  California,  G40  miles, 
and  stocked  the  route  with  four- horse  coaches. 
When  elected  to  the  senate  he  relinquished  his 
contract,  as  not  compatible  with  his  obligations  as 
a  public  servant,  and  sold  it  out  to  others.  At 
the  present  time  he  is  president  of  a  company 
organized  to  complete  the  construction  of  a  grand 
hotel,  most  substantial  in  structure  and  elegant 
in  finish — to  be  second  in  size  only  to  the  celebrated 
Palace  hotel  of  San  Francisco — -a  work  begun  on  a 

O 

magnificent  scale  by  Henry  Villard,  but  stopped  when 
he  fell  temporarily  from  the  pinnacle  of  his  greatness 
in  this  section.  The  building  will  receive  the  fitting 
name  of  "  The  Portland."  To  insure  its  completion, 
$500,000  has  been  raised.  Mr  Corbett,  Mr  Ladd, 
Mr  Failing,  and  Mr  Lewis  subscribing  a  little  over 
one-half  the  stock  among  themselves. 

o 

Mr  Corbett's  original  venture  in  Portland  in  mer- 


HENRY  W.  CORBETT.  661 

chandising  has  developed  into  the  largest  wholesale 
hardware  business  in  the  city,  conducted  under  the 
firm  name  of  Corbett,  Failing,  and  Company.  He 
has  erected  some  of  the  first  business  blocks  in  the 
city,  and  has  otherwise  kept  his  wealth  in  motion, 
both  on  the  score  of  business  policy  and  for  the  ad 
vancement  of  the  general  good  of  the  community. 
He  has  in  no  sense  hoarded  his  riches.  He  has 
evinced  his  public  spirit,  as  the  record  shows,  by 
taking  a  pronounced  and  active  part  in  politics,  com 
merce,  education  ,and  religion,  in  every  great  and 
good  movement  promotive  of  better  government,  bet 
ter  business,  better  schools,  better  morals.  Where 
the  call  upon  him  has  been  for  cooperation  in  private 
enterprises  on  which  public  prosperity  depends,  he 
has  responded  readily  and  wisely ;  where  gifts  have 
been  necessary  he  has  always  given,  not  ostentatiously 
and  for  the  name  of  it,  but  in  the  spirit  of  genuine 
charity,  which  is  discriminating.  That  he  might 
always  have  the  means  to  do  this,  it  has  been  the 
rule  of  his  life  to  set  aside  regularly  one-tenth  of  each 
year's  earnings  with  which  to  meet  the  charitable  de 
mands  of  the  next.  This  part  of  his  income  he  does 
not  regard  as  his  own.  It  is  in  his  stewardship  only. 
The  outlay  has  been  returned  to  him,  doubtless,  how 
ever,  in  material  results  flowing  back  to  him  from  his 
beneficence,  and  still  more  so,  in  the  possession  of  a 
mind  conscious  to  itself  of  right.  It  is  his  religion, 
and  the  world  would  not  be  what  it  is  to  hosts  of  the 
unfortunates  if  religious  professions  were  thus  made 
generally  good  in  practice.  He  was  the  first  to  close 
the  doors  of  his  store  on  Sundays  in  1851 — a  start 
ling  innovation  in  those  pioneer  days — but  this  was 
in  the  line  of  right  and  duty  with  him.  He  lost  no 
custom  by  it  ;  he  simply  established  himself  in  the 
confidence  of  his  customers.  He  was  reared  in  the 
presbyterian  doctrine,  and  has  proved  his  faith  by  his 
life  and  his  works.  His  walk  and  conversation  amonor 

o 

men  is  an  earnest  of  what  he  is  in  the  church.     His 


662  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

religion  is  perhaps  wider  than  his  creed,  for  his  sym 
pathy  and  his  substantial  encouragement  go  out  to  all 
associations,  denominational  or  otherwise,  the  aim  of 
which  is  to  improve  mankind.  Those  two  great  sources 
of  moral  and  mental  amelioration,  under  whatever 
name  or  outward  seeming,  the  churches  and  the 
schools,  knew  him  as  a  friend  in  need. 

In  politics  Mr  Corbctt  grew  up  in  the  whig  tariff 
school  of  Henry  Clay.  On  the  formation  of  the  re 
publican  party  in  Oregon  he  became  one  of  its  lead 
ers,  and  was  elected  chairman  of  the  state  central 
committee,  and  delegate  to  the  Chicago  convention  of 
1860,  by  which  memorable  body  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  named  for  the  presidency.  Being  unable  to 
reach  there  in  time,  Horace  Greeley  represented  Or 
egon  by  proxies  from  Mr  Corbettand  Leander Holmes. 
All  students  of  the  political  history  of  the  United 
States  know  the  conspicuous  part  played  by  Mr 
Greeley  on  this  occasion,  and  realize  the  momentous 
consequences  of  his  activity  in  defeating  Mr  Seward 
for  the  nomination,  his  strenuous  opposition  to  this 
candidate  resulting  in  the  choice  of  Mr  Lincoln  as 
the  standard-bearer  of  the  party.  Oregon  was  thus 
indirectly  made  a  conspicuous  factor  in  this  nomina 
tion,  Mr  Greeley  being  wisely  chosen  to  represent  the 
Oregon  delegates,  who  could  not  be  personally  pres 
ent.  The  figrht  was  hard  and  close,  and  these  two 

o  * 

votes,  supplemented  by  Mr  Greeley's  indefatigable 
efforts,  and  backed  by  the  power  of  his  great  paper, 
The  Tribune,  carried  the  day  ;  so  that  through  him,  as 
its  chosen  instrument,  Oregon  became  a  factor  in  the 
history  of  national  politics. 

Mr  Corbett  attended  the  inauguration  of  Mr  Lin 
coln  March  4,  1861.  During  his  trip  east  there  oc 
curred  two  incidents,  which  are  the  outgrowth  of  his 
first  participation  in  general  politics,  and  serve  to 
show  the  breadth  of  his  views  and  the  keenness  of 
his  insight  into  the  requirements  of  the  emergency  of 
the  times.  There  was  a  lull  before  the  storm.  The 


HENRY  W.  GORBETT.  663 

couth  had  decided  to  withdraw  from  the  union,  and 
the  north  was  divided  on  the  question,  Instant  ac 
tion  was  necessary,  but  no  one  seemed  to  know  what 
was  best  to  be  done  to  determine  the  issue. 

On  the  llth  of  March,  1861,  he  met  Thurlow 
Weed  at  the  Astor  house.  Mr  Weed,  who  was  un 
derstood  to  be  the  power  behind  the  throne  (at  least 
of  Mr  Seward,  who  was  then  Mr  Lincoln's  leading 
counsellor),  and  Mr  Corbett  fell  into  conversation 
about  the  state  of  affairs.  Said  Mr  Corbett  :  "  What 
does  the  government  propose  to  do  in  the  matter  of 
giving  aid  to  Major  Anderson  at  Fort  Sumter  ?  "  Mr 
Weed  replied  :  "  General  Scott  is  of  the  opinion  it 
will  take  25,000  men  to  put  down  the  rebellion  at  that 
point,  and  he  has  concluded,  therefore,  not  to  do  any 
thing."  "If  this  be  so,"  remarked  Mr  Corbett, 
"  why  not  send  a  vessel  loaded  with  provisions  to  the 
relief  of  Major  Anderson,  and  notify  the  rebels  that 
if  they  fire  on  this  government  ship  they  will  do  so 
at  their  peril."  Mr  Weed's  quick  response  was:  "  I 
think  that's  a  good  idea."  Mr  Corbett  that  day 
sailed  for  Oregon  by  the  way  of  Panamd, ,  upon  his 
arrival  there  he  was  surprised  to  find  that  the  plan 
proposed  by  him  had  been  pursued  by  the  govern 
ment.  It  is  possible  that  some  other  active  bra  in  had 
originated  the  idea  formulated  by  Mr  Corbett ;  but 
if  so,  the  coincidence  is  very  remarkable.  Whether 
the  credit  for  exclusive  originality  is  due  to  Mr  Cor 
bett  will,  perhaps,  never  be  determined. 

Be  this  as  it  may,  the  suggestion  was  of  extreme 
value.  The  rebels  fired  upon  the  Star  of  tJie  West, 
and  the  echoes  of  the  cannonade  had  scarcely  died 
out  before  the  north  realized  the  danger  of  delay,  and 
rose  up  as  one  man  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the 
union.  The  south  were  the  aggressors;  the  north 
were  put  on  the  defensive. 

The  other  incident  took  place  shortly  after  Mr 
Lincoln's  inauguration.  Calling  on  Mr  Greeley, 
whose  idea  was,  "  Let  our  erring  sisters  depart  in 


664  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

peace,"  Mr  Corbett,  who  has  always  possessed  the 
courage  of  his  convictions,  and  whose  political  rela 
tions  with  the  great  Tribune  editor  were  such  that  he 
felt  warranted  in  expressing  himself  plainly,  took  issuii 
with  Mr  Greeley.  Said  he  :  "It  is  my  conviction 
that  the  war  should  be  prosecuted  with  the  utmost 
vigor  to  coerce  the  states  that  have  placed  themselves 
in  open  hostility  to  the  government.  It  will  never 
do  to  concede  that  the  southern  states  can  withdraw 
from  the  union.  If  this  be  granted,  what  would 
hinder  the  western  central  states  from  going  out  in 
the  same  way?  According  to  what  principle  could 
New  England  or  the  Pacific  states  be  restrained  from 

o 

setting  up  separate  governments  for  themselves  ? 
The  republic  would  be  broken  into  fragments  with  all 
the  disadvantages  attendant  upon  a  multiplicity  of 
petty  sovereignties,  weak  and  jarring,  without  suffi 
cient  strength  to  repel  invasion,  or  to  command  respect 
abroad.  The  next  issue  of  the  Tribune  contained  a 
leading  article  headed,  "  On  to  Richmond." 

From  the  first  intimation  of  a  struggle  between  the 
states  Mr  Corbett  was  an  uncompromising  union  man, 
and  while  chairman  of  the  republican  state  central 
committee,  he  put  forth  every  effort  to  induce  all 
loyal  men  in  Oregon  to  combine  against  the  heresy  of 
secession.  To  this  end  a  union  convention  was  held 
in  Eugene  City  April  9,  1862.  In  the  call  signed 
by  the  central  committee,  of  which  he  was  chairman, 
a  large  number  of  republicans  and  Douglas  demo 
crats  from  all  parts  of  the  state  joined.  The  result 
was  that  a  union  ticket  was  nominated,  divided  about 
equally  between  the  republicans  and  the  democrats. 
This  judicious  measure  was  adopted,  though  opposed 
bv  some  of  the  radical  wing  of  the  republican  party, 
for  the  question  was  simply  one  of  union  or  disunion. 
The  state,  which  had  hitherto  been  decidedly  demo 
cratic,  was  thus  saved  to  the  union  beyond  all  doubt, 
and  eventually  became  permanently  republican. 

Mr  Corbett  was  solicited  to  accept  the  nomination 


HENRY   W.  CORBETT.  665 

f  T  governor,  but,  having  no  personal  ambition  in  tLis 
direction,  he  declined  the  honor.  In  the  fall  of  1866, 
without  any  effort  on  his  part  and  without  any  special 
desire  for  preferment,  he  was  chosen  to  the  United 
States  senate  to  succeed  J.  W.  Nesmith.  While  in 
the  senate  Mr  Corbett  won  a  reputation  for  himself 
by  his  thorough  practical  knowledge  of  financial  af 
fairs,  and  was  ever  opposed  to  the  financial  heresies 
of  the  period  following  the  conclusion  of  the  war. 
The  soundness  of  the  views  which  he  then  expressed 
has  been  fully  demonstrated,  for  the  principles,  if  not 
the  identical  measures  which  he  advocated,  have  since 
become  a  part  of  the  policy  of  the  government.  His 
cogent  arguments  on  the  resumption  of  specie  pay 
ments  ;  on  the  funding  of  the  national  debt  at  a  lower 
rate  of  interest  and  longer  time ;  and  his  determined 
opposition  to  all  plans  that  savored  in  the  least  of  bad 
faith  or  repudiation,  can  be  understood  best  as  pre 
sented  in  his  own  words,  recorded  in  the  archives  at 
the  national  capital,  and  published  in  the  Congressional 
Globe,  December  6th  and  13,  1867;  March  11,  1868  ; 
February  11,  1869;  March  7,  1870;  March  11,  1870; 
March  19,  1872. 

On  the  floor  of  the  senate  he  had  to  contend  with 
some  of  the  most  experienced  and  wisest  legislators 
of  the  period,  several  of  whom  are  still  conspicuous 
in  national  affairs.  He  fought,  however,  for  good 
faith  and  the  right,  and  time  has  proved  that  his  judg 
ment  was  correct  in  every  particular,  not  only  accord 
ing  to  the  logic  of  morals,  but  on  the  ground  of 
expediency  in  finance,  as  well.  An  extract  from  his 
great  speech  delivered  in  the  senate  March  11,  1868, 
will  show  the  integrity  of  his  character,  the  power  of 
his  reasoning,  and  his  eloquence  in  debate.  Mr  Cor 
bett  arose  to  explain  the  notice  he  gave  that  he  would 
offer  an  amendment  to  the  funding  bill  then  under 
consideration,  so  as  to  make  the  bonds  in  question  re 
deemable  in  coin  after  twenty  years  instead  of  ten. 
His  remarks  turned  upon  the  bold  statement  of  a  dis- 


666  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

tinguished  senator,  in  reply  to  a  question  put  to  him 
as  to  what  he  would  do  provided  the  then  bondholder 
would  not  accept  the  five  per  cent  bond,  that  he,  for  one, 
would  vote  to  pay  off  the  5-20  bonds  in  legal  tenders, 
providing  the  holders  did  not  see  fit  to  exchange  their 
securities  for  a  bond  bearing  one  per  cent  less  interest 
than  those  then  held  by  them.  Said  Mr  Corbett : 
"  With  such  a  proposition  I  cannot  a^ree.  The 

_  i    i  •  •  • 

solemn  obligations  resting  upon  me  as  a  senator,  and 
the  solemn  obligations  resting  upon  the  government 
in  this  crisis  of  our  financial  straggle  forbid.  A 
struggle  I  say,  because  it  is  a  struggle  with  ourselves 
whether  we  will  pay  our  bonds  as  they  mature,  in 
dollars  or  with  our  irredeemable  notes,  made  a  legal 
tender  under  the  pressure  of  war,  and,  as  a  war  meas 
ure,  to  be  redeemed  with  gold  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
or  funded  into  United  States  bonds  bearing  interest 
that  should  be  equivalent  to  gold. 

"It  is  not  for  the  present  that  I  speak,  but  it  is 
that  great,  grand,  and  glorious  future  that  I  see  for 
my  country  looming  up  before  me,  powerful  and 
mighty  as  she  is  to  be,  destined  to  withstand,  as  one 
day,  she  will,  all  the  governments  of  the  crowned 
heads  of  Europe,  if  occasion  requires.  I  would  lay 
our  credit  deep  and  broad  not  for  one  century,  but  for 
a  hundred  centuries.  ..... 

"  Let  us  keep  our  armor  bright  and  our  credit  un 
tarnished  and  look  to  time,  to  the  great  future,  as  our 
remedy  fer  this  burden.  To  say  that  we  cannot  pay 
the  interest  on  this  debt  is  folly ;  there  is  no  such 
sentiment  in  the  American  heart,  but,  on  the  con 
trary,  they  are  determined  to  do  and  accomplish  what 
no  other  nation  has  the  internal  wealth  and  vigor  to 
do.  Many  croakers  said  that  we  could  not  put  down 
"this  rebellion;  the  people  said:  'We  will  try.'  All 
the  people  now  ask  is  that  you  should  try  to  pay  the 
debt.  As  for  myself,  I  never  had  a  doubt  that  we 
could  put  down  the  rebellion.  Neither  have  I  had  a 
doubt  but  that  we  can  pay  this  debt  in  dollars. 


HENRY   W.  CORBETT.  667 

Public  credit  should  be,   '  Like   Caesar's  wife,  above 
suspicion.' 

"  Therefore  let  us  not  crown  this  temple,  hewn  by 
the  sweat  of  so  many  brows,  reared  by  the  blood  of 
so  many  brave  lads,  with  the  capstone  of  repudiation. 
Let  us  do  nothing  as  a  great  and  noble  and  suffering 
people  that  shall  detract  from  the  honor  of  those  ly 
ing  silent  and  cold  in  their  blood-bought  graves,  with 
naught  but  their  country's  banner  over  them.  To 
me,  Mr  President,  my  duty  is  plain ;  my  duty  to  the 
men  that  came  forward  to  supply  our  suffering  army, 
to  succor  our  noble  boys,  in  the  day  of  the  national 
darkness  and  despair,  and  to  the  capitalists  of  Ger 
many,  of  Frankfort,  that  took  our  securities  and 
spewed  out  the  rebel  bonds,  and  gave  to  us  money, 
the  sinews  of  war,  to  assist  us  in  maintaining  the  life 
of  the  nation.  I  need  not  the  example  of  other  na 
tions  to  tell  me  what  is  right  between  man  and  man, 
or  between  nation  and  nation  ;  it  needs  not  the  shrewd 
argument  of  a  lawyer  to  tell  me  what  is  due  to  my 
creditor ;  if  there  is  any  one  thing  that  I  regard  as 
more  sacred  in  life,  after  my  duty  to  my  God,  it  is  to 
fulfill  all  my  engagements,  both  written  and  implied, 
and  nothing  shall  drive  me  from  this  position." 

Thus  from  the  liberal  standpoint  taken  by  Mr 
Corbett,  the  nation's  honor  was  bound  to  meet  the 
indebtedness  incurred  by  the  expenses  of  the  war, 
"  not,"  as  he  expressed  it,  "  according  to  the  strict 
advantages  that  might  be  taken  of  the  law,  but  ac 
cording  to  the  implied  obligations."  To  the  firm  atti 
tude  which  he  and  others  assumed  on  this  long-vexed 
question,  and  to  his  own  efforts  as  much  as  to  those 
of  any  single  individual,  may  be  attributed  in  a  meas 
ure  the  preservation  of  the  national  credit,  and  the 
fact  that  the  country  is  now  more  grievously  per 
plexed  with  the  magnitude  of  its  surplus  than  with 
the  magnitude  of  its  debt. 

In  the  discussion  on  the  currency  bill  on  the  llth 
of  February  1869,  to  which  Mr  Corbett  offered  several 


668  GOVERNMENT— OREGOX. 

amendments,  he  also  displayed  powers  of  rhetoric  and 
of  close,  logical  argument,  which  showed  him  to  be  at 
least  a  match  for  the  veterans  of  debate.  His  speech 
on  this  occasion  was  one  of  his  greatest  efforts,  and  with  - 
out  some  mention  of  it  this  sketch  of  his  career  would 
indeed  be  incomplete.  Pleading  for  a  speedy  return  to 
specie  payments,  he  said :  "  We  cannot  shut  our 
eyes  to  the  evil  effects  of  our  inflated  and  demoralized 
currency ;  its  ultimate  effects  upon  our  working  popu 
lation  in  confining  the  production  of  their  labor  to  a 
home  market.  The  energy  of  our  people  is  not  to  be 
circumscribed.  We  are  young,  enterprising,  and  seek 
to  be  the  greatest  producing,  as  well  as  the  greatest 
commercial,  nation  in  the  world.  We  are  not  satis 
fied  to  sit  down,  like  other  inactive,  non-progressive 
countries,  and  consume  all  we  produce.  We  must 
expand  and  control  the  trade  of  other  countries.  Our 
present  currency  is  fixed  by  law ;  it  has  no  power  of 
expansion  as  compared  with  the  currency  of  the 
world  ;  consequently  I  contend  that  it  is  the  worst 
possible  currency ;  it  is  a  fixed  amount,  capable  of  be 
ing  controlled  by  designing  speculators,  and  local  in 
its  character,  incapable  of  being  circulated  abroad  and 
incapable  of  being  increased  from  abroad." 

He  then  called  attention  to  the  enormous  exporta 
tion  of  gold,  caused  by  the  fact  that  other  countries 
had  no  use  for  our  irredeemable  paper.  For  the  year 
1868,  when  greenbacks  were  quoted  at  from  30  to  40 
per  cent  discount,  exports  of  gold  exceeded  imports 
by  the  sum  of  $80,000,000,  and  this  because  we  prac 
tically  said  to  the  world:  "You  cannot  have  any 
thing  we  produce  unless  you  pay  us,  say  $1.36  for 
what  is  worth  $1  in  other  countries."  "We  all 
know,"  he  continued,  "  how  difficult  it  is  to  induce  a 
man  to  sell  a  piece  of  property  that  cost  him  $136,- 
000  in  what  he  counted  dollars,  for  $100,000  in  such 
money  as  other  countries  count  dollars.  This  feeling 
exists  with  the  farmer,  the  manufacturer,  and  those 
engaged  in  commerce,  and  nothing  can  remedy  it  un- 


HENRY  W.  CORBETT.  669 

til  you  return  to  specie  payments.  You  may  stimu 
late  trade  for  a  little  time  by  a  fresh  issue  of  irre 
deemable  paper.  It  goes  to  the  country ;  it  is  as 
plentiful  as  rags,  and  finally  it  approaches  the  pur 
chasing  power  of  rags,  and  thus  you  have  irredeem 
able  rags  for  legal  tender." 

As  to  the  system  then  adopted  by  the  government 
of  throwing  gold  upon  the  market  whenever  it  rose 
above  a  certain  price,  Mr  Corbett  considered  it  to  be 
hurtful  in  the  extreme,  especially  to  the  people  of  the 
Pacific  coast,  who  formed  the  gold-producing  section 
of  the  community.  Though  they  had  not  complained 
of  the  treasury  thus  depreciating  the  value  of  one  of 
their  leading  products,  and  compelling  them  to  sell  it 
for  less  than  it  was  worth,  they  had  none  the  less 
good  reason  for  complaint.  What,  for  instance,  would 
the  farmer  say,  if  the  government  were  to  adopt 
the  same  policy  as  to  the  commodities  which  they 
produced.  In  conclusion  he  remarked  :  "  We  are 
willing  even  to  bear  this  unjust  discrimination  against 
the  products  of  that  portion  of  the  country,  if  it 
tended  to  bring  this  portion  of  the  union  back  to  a 
sound  healthy  condition,  but  its  tendency  has  a  con 
trary  effect.  It  is  driving  all  the  specie  out  of  the 
country  to  Europe  and  to  China.  We  are  further  from 
specie  payments  than  a  year  ago.  Stop  the  sale  of 
gold  by  the  treasury,  and  let  it  seek  its  level  like  all 
other  products  of  the  country,  without  interference 
by  government  to  bear  it  down  or  force  it  up;  let  it 
assume  its  proper  function.  The  world  has  chosen 
the  precious  metals  as  the  standard,  and  I  think  we 
cannot  revolutionize  the  world  in  this  respect. 
Specie  will  most  likely  remain  our  standard,  whatever 
other  theories  we  may  present.  We  may  keep  down 
the  price  for  a  time  by  unnatural  appliances,  but 
eventually,  like  water,  it  will  find  its  level." 

In  the  debate  on  the  funding  bill,  which  passed 
the  senate  in  amended  form  on  the  llth  of  March, 
1870,  authorizing  the  issue  of  $1,200,000,000  worth 


670  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

of  bonds,  in  three  equal  portions,  bearing  interest  at 
five,  four  and  a  half,  and  four  per  cent,  and  all  re 
deemable  in  gold,  Mr  Corbett  made  many  pertinent 
remarks.  At  this  date  the  six  per  cents  were  still 
below  par,  and  greenbacks  at  a  heavy  discount,  while 
there  were  few  who  believed  that  bonds  bearing 
a  much  lower  rate  of  interest  could  be  floated  on  the 
market  at  their  face  value.  In  the  original  bill  it 
was  proposed  to  convert  $356,000,000  worth  of  legal- 
tender  notes  into  four  per  cent  bonds,  thereby  increas 
ing  the  interest  on  the  public  debt  by  some  $14,000,- 
000  or  $15,000,000  a  year.  Even  Senator  Sherman 
advocated  such  a  measure,  for,  as  he  explained,  by 
thus  trying  the  currency  to  the  public  credit — that  is 
to  the  market  value  of  the  bonds — the  former  would 
be  anchored  on  a  sure  foundation,  where  it  would  rest 
in  the  hands  of  the  people  until  redeemed  in  coin  on 
the  resumption  of  specie  payments. 

To  such  amateur  legislation  the  senator  from 
Oregon  replied  that  legal-tender  notes  could  riot  be 
funded,  for  no  one  would  invest  his  currency  in  four 
per  cent  bonds  unless  money  should  be  so  plentiful 
that  it  was  not  worth  that  rate  of  interest.  On  the 
question  of  taxing  United  States  bonds  Mr  Corbett  ex 
pressed  his  opinions  with  his  usual  force  and  empha 
sis.  In  reply  to  Senator  Casserly,  who  stated  that  if 
such  bonds  were  exempt  from  taxation,  those  who 
held  them  would  become  an  odious  class  in  the  com 
munity  whenever  there  should  occur  a  change  in 
public  opinion,  he  said  :  "I  do  not  wish  to  leave  this 
question  open  until  there  shall  be  that  change  of 
public  opinion  to  which  the  senator  from  California 
refers,  until  another  party  shall  come  here,  until  the 
people  who  were  in  rebellion  against  us  come  here  and 
desire  to  tax  the  bonds  of  the  United  States  out  of 
existence,  and  make  them  as  worthless  as  confederate 
bonds.  That  is  the  idea,  as  I  understand,  of  retain 
ing  a  tax  upon  these  bonds.  It  is  for  that  very  rea 
son  that  I  am  in  favor  of  negotiating  this  loan  and 


HENRY  W.  CORBETT.  671 

reducing  the  interest  and  freeing  it  from  every  tax 
whatever,  so  that  there  can  be  no  excuse  hereafter  for 
an  attempt  to  tax  the  securities  of  the  United  States." 

Most  of  the  measures  that  Mr  Corbett  advocated, 
and  more  than  he  anticipated,  have  since  been 
adopted,  though  not  of  course  directly  in  the  manner 
which  he  proposed.  Specie  payments  have  been  re 
sumed  ;  the  national  debt  has  been  funded  at  lower 
rates  of  interest,  with  extended  time,  and  United 
States  bonds  are  exempt  from  all  taxation.  We  have 
seen  the  four  per  cents,  which  it  was  supposed  could 
not  be  placed  on  the  market  except  at  a  heavy  dis 
count,  sell  for  more  than  thirty  per  cent  premium, 
and  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  nation,  our 
government  securities  have  sold  for  higher  prices,  in 
proportion  to  the  income  they  return,  than  the  Brit 
ish  three  per  cent  consols.  Until  recent  years  the  lat 
ter  were  considered  the  best  security  in  the  world;  but 
the  prestige  of  national  credit,  following  the  course  of 
empire,  has  settled  at  length  on  these  western  lands. 

Thus,  somewhat  at  length,  for  his  career  has  been 
an  exceptional  one,  we  have  reviewed  the  political  life 
of  one  of  the  foremost  statesmen  of  the  Pacific  coast. 
That  he  has  left  his  impress  not  only  on  the  records, 
but  on  the  destiny  of  the  nation  none  will  care  to  dis 
pute.  We  would  that  there  were  more  such  men  in 
the  chambers  of  our  national  and  local  legislatures, 
men  whose  heart  and  mind  were  intent  on  their  work 
and  not  on  their  pay,  their  mileage,  their  allowance, 
and  their  schemes  for  self-aggrandisement. 

It  remains  only  to  be  said  that  Mr  Corbett  was  a 
delegate  to  the  national  republican  convention  which 
nominated  Grant  and  Col  fax  in  1868.  He  has  always 
taken  an  active  interest  in  politics,  though  never 
anxious  for  official  preferment  for  himself.  During 
the  war,  though  Oregon  was  far  from  the  seat  of 
active  operations,  loyal  citizens  here  were  not  luke 
warm  in  their  sympathy  with  and  support  of  the 
cause.  As  an  active  member  of  the  Christian  com- 


G72  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

mission,  much  was  done  by  Mr  Corbett,  in  an  unob 
trusive  way,  to  promote  the  comfort  of  the  union 
soldiers,  and  to  encourage  them  through  the  dark 
days  of  the  struggle. 

Mr  Corbett  was  married  in  February  1853  to  Miss 
Caroline  E.  Jagger,  who  died  in  1865,  leaving  him 
two  sons,  both  born  in  Portland,  the  younger  of 
whom,  Hamilton  F.  Corbett,  died  several  years  ago. 
The  elder  is  Henry  J.  Corbett,  about  thirty  years  of 
age,  wrho  manifests  the  ability  and  the  disposition  to 
take  up  and  carry  forward  successfully  through  an 
other  generation,  the  work  of  his  father.  After 
graduating  from  Lawrenceville  academy,  N.  J.,  he 
took  his  place  in  the  bank  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder. 
He  has  risen  step  by  step,  until  he  has  won  for 
himself  the  responsible  position  of  assistant  cashier. 
He  has  grown  with  the  bank,  is  acquainted  with 
all  its  operations,  and  can  be  depended  upon  to 
keep  the  credit  balances  in  good  condition.  He 
is  a  stockholder  and  director,  and  is  also  identi 
fied  as  director  with  other  corporations.  The  dis 
tinguishing  traits  of  his  character  are  thoroughness 
and  determination.  He  gets  to  the  bottom  of  what 
ever  he  undertakes;  if  anything  has  to  be  investigated 
his  services  are  called  into  requisition.  He  is  digni 
fied  and  courteous  in  demeanor,  and  unlike  most  other 
young  men  occupying  his  place  and  having  his  pros 
pects  for  the  future,  he  is  unassuming  and  *nodest. 
He  appreciates  the  counsels  of  his  father,  and  realizes 
that  life  without  an  aim  is  not  worth  living ;  that 
every  man  is  accountable  to  his  fellows  and  to  himself 
for  something  accomplished  by  his  individual  efforts 
and  talents.  He  would  have  chosen  a  profession  but 
for  the  business  demands  upon  him  as  his  father's 
successor.  He  possesses  a  fine  physique;  is  six  feet 
in  height,  straight  as  an  arrow,  symmetrically  formed, 
athletic,  and  a  bold  and  tireless  sportsman,  and  as 
suredly  he  is  a  young  man  upon  whom  his  father's 
mantle  will  fall  gracefully. 


HENRY   W.  CORBETT.  673 

In  1867  Mr  Corbett  was  again  married  to  Miss 
Emma  L.  Haggles  of  Worcester,  Massachusetts.  At 
the  time  of  her  marriage  Mrs  Corbett  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age — quite  young  to  assume  the  social 
and  domestic  responsibilities  that  devolved  upon  her, 
for  she  at  once  took  position  in  the  social  circles  of 
the  capital  as  a  senator's  bride  and  as  a  mother  to  his 
two  sons.  There  are  few  young  ladies  who  could 
have  borne  themselves  so  becomingly  in  this  new 
sphere.  Mrs  Corbett  was  endowed  with  remarkable 
grace  of  manner  and  a  refinement  of  wit  in  repartee 
that  won  her  many  admirers  at  Washington. 

Mr  Corbett's  Portland  residence  is  one  of  the  most 
attractive  in  that  city  of  elegant  dwellings.  Its  inte 
rior  appointments  are  in  excellent  taste,  and  accord 
with  the  wealth  and  position  of  the  proprietor ;  the 
ample  grounds  about  his  house  are  ornamented  by  a 
number  of  beautiful  elms  that  were  brought  by  him 
as  mere  twigs,  their  roots  packed  in  moss,  from  New 
England  by  way  of  Panama.  Taking  kindly  to  this 
soil,  they  have  developed  in  size,  and  widened  the 
circle  of  their  shade  from  year  to  year,  conspicuous 
by  their  origin  and  their  adaptability.  So  their  pos 
sessor,  true  to  his  inherited  qualities  and  education, 
has  grown  in  power  and  favor  under  new  and  some 
times  strange  conditions. 

Mr  Corbett  is  a  man  of  distinguished  appearance, 
being  six  feet  in  height,  straight  and  spare  built,  but 
symmetrical.  His  manner  is  courtly  and  graceful. 
He  is  gentle  and  courteous  in  address — a  man  whom 
Americans  are  not  ashamed  to  point  out  as  a 
specimen  of  a  United  States  senator.  His  hair 
was  brown,  but  now  iron  gray,  rather  contrib 
uting  to  the  dignity  of  his  presence.  His  eyes  of 
hazel  color  are  soft  and  restful  when  he  is  in  repose, 
but  bright  and  sparkling  when  he  is  exhilarated.  His 
face  betokens  kindness  and  good  will;  his  smile  is 
cheerfulness  itself.  He  impresses  you  as  a  man  who 
has  succeeded  in  life  by  patience  and  the  economy  of 

C.  B.— II.     43 


674  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

reserve  force,  rather  than  by  exhausting  effort  and 
precipitate  action ;  as  one  possessing  an  invincible 
power  to  labor  and  to  wait.  He  is  totally  free  from  as 
sumption  or  mannerism ;  direct  and  natural  in  every 
expression.  He  is  a  good  listener.  He  is  never  sel  f- 
assertive  or  eager  to  forestall  others  in  conversation, 
only  speaking  when  the  fullness  of  the  occasion  gives 
additional  weight  to  his  words.  His  ordinary  tones 
are  low  and  soft,  without  special  emphasis  or  artifice, 
as  though  he  rather  left  his  thoughts  to  express  them 
selves  than  to  derive  vitality  from  the  utterance.  In 
other  words  he  speaks  less  as  the  cunning  rhetorician 
than  as  the  practical  philosopher.  It  would  seem 
that  the  tranquility  of  his  life  is  mirrored  in  the  even 
ness  of  his  speech.  His  expression  is  not  weak,  how 
ever;  there  is  an  element  of  strength  in  it  which 
comes  from  truth,  and  inspires  confidence.  It  is  pre 
cise  and  decided.  When  he  has  said  "  no  "you  feel 
that  his  stand  is  taken,  and  his  determination  fixed  ; 
for  his  firmness  is  of  the  mind,  not  of  the  tongue. 
The  attention  he  secured,  and  the  influence  he  wielded 
in  the  senate  demonstrate  that  he  can  raise  his  voice 
in  public  assemblies  so  as  to  be  heard  and  felt.  That 
he  can  be  roused  to  fairly  punish  an  enemy  is  like 
wise  evident  from  the  purchase  of  the  Oregonian  in 
1872,  which  he  soon  made  the  medium  of  publishing 
the  news  at  so  great  a  cost  that  Ben.  Holladay's 
unfriendly  Bulletin  was  soon  driven  to  the  wall,  where 
upon  Mr  Corbett  got  out  of  the  newspaper  business 
with  the  same  alacrity  that  he  had  engaged  in  it. 
That  he  is  popular  goes  without  saying.  But  that  is 
not  all.  He  is  lovingly  and  kindly  regarded  by  his 
neighbors.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  anyone  in  this 
community  who  envies  him  in  his  prosperity,  nor  who 
does  not  feel  that  so  long  as  one  man  may  or  must 
have  more  than  another  of  this  world's  goods,  he  is 
worthy  of  the  distinction,  and  may  be  safely  trusted 
with  the  stewardship  of  great  wealth. 


HENRY   W.  CORBETT.  675 

He  was  in  every  way  equipped  mentally,  morally, 
and  physically  to  enter  the  north-west  as  a  pioneer 
and  builder.  Chronicle  clearly  the  lives  and  experi 
ences  of  men  of  his  quality  and  calibre  who  have 
been  identified  with  the  settlement  and  progress  of 
the  Pacific  coast,  for  the  last  thirty-five  or  forty  years, 
and  apart  from  them  what  would  there  be  of  vital  his 
torical  interest  to  record  ?  A  skeleton  of  statistics 
alone  would  remain.  They  did  not  contribute  their 
talent,  energy,  and  enterprise  toward  laying  the 
foundation  and  then  give  way  to  demoralizing  sur 
roundings  ;  to  them  belongs  the  credit  for  the  super 
structure  also.  Theirs  are  the  substantial  and  en 
nobling  conquests  of  peace,  in  comparison  with  which 
the  achievements  of  military  captains  are  small  and 
insignificant.  It  may  be  many  years  to  come,  but 
there  is  a  period  in  the  future  when  civilization  in  all 
its  most  desirable  ends  will  have  reached  as  hio;h  a 

O 

degree  in  Oregon  as  was  ever  attained  in  Greece  or 
Rome  in  their  loftiest  developments.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  of  this  consummation.  Whose  lives  then, 
as  factors  in  this  accomplishment,  are  more  profitable 
to  preserve  for  study  by  posterity  than  such  as  that 
which  I  now  present  to  the  reader  ? 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

LIFE  OF   SOLOMON  HIRSCH. 

THE  REWARD  OP  SELF  HELP — SUCCESS  ATTENDING  APPLICATION  TO  BUSINESS 
AND  STKICT  INTEGRITY — A  FACTOR  IN  OREGON'S  GROWTH — REMARKABLE 
LEGISLATIVE  CAREER — RECOGNITION  OF  ABILITY  AND  CHARACTER — A 
MAN  WHOM  THE  PEOPLE  APPRECIATE — UNITED  STATES  EMBASSADOR  TO 
TURKEY. 

MANY  men  have  made  their  mark  in  the  senate  of 
Oregon  since  the  first  legislative  body  assembled  in 
1843,  in  an  unoccupied  barn  in  Oregon  City.  The 
pioneers  who  had  travelled  for  more  than  two  thou 
sand  miles  through  what  was  then  known  as  the 
American  desert,  braving  perils  and  hardships,  to 
found  a  new  empire  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific,  could 
be  trusted  to  frame  a  constitution  which  provided 
equal  rights  and  liberties  for  every  citizen.  That  its 
provisions  were  well  considered  is  evident  from  the 
fact  that  most  of  them  were  ratified  in  the  organic 
act  of  1848.  In  later  years  the  state  has  been  equally 
fortunate  in  securing  for  its  law-makers  men  of  char 
acter  and  ability,  with  heart  and  brain  intent  on  their 
work,  and  not  on  their  per  diem,  their  allowances,  and 
their  own  personal  designs.  Worthy  of  mention 
among  these  is  Solomon  Hirsch,  who  served  for  three 
successive  terms  as  senator  for  Multnomah  county, 
the  Incidents  of  which  long  and  useful  career  no  one 
recalls  without  credit  to  the  man  and  satisfaction 
to  his  constituency.  It  is  not  only,  however,  as  a 
legislator,  but  as  a  merchant,  as  a  member  of  society, 
and  above  all,  as  a  public-spirited  citizen,  that  the 

(676) 


SOLOMON  HIRSCH.  677 

record  of  his  life  merits  a  place  in  the  annals  of  his 
adopted  state.  To  men  of  this  stamp  is  due  the  pros 
perity  which  Oregon  enjoys  as  one  of  the  most 
steadily  progressive  sections  of  the  union,  and  which 
Portland  enjoys  as  the  second  commercial  emporium 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  as  the  seat  of  manufacturing 
enterprise,  and  with  a  volume  of  trade  that  would 
do  credit  to  a  city  with  thrice  her  population.  Take 
from  the  history  of  nations  or  of  states  the  achieve 
ments  of  such  men,  and  that  which  remains  is  seldom 
worth  recording.  Their  lives  irthe  life  of  the  country. 

Mr  Hirsch  was  born  on  the  25th  of  March  1839, 
in  Wiirtemburg,  Germany.  His  father  was  a  poor 
man,  who  had  a  hard  struggle  to  maintain  a  large 
family  of  children  ;  his  mother  belonged  to  an  old  and 
much  respected  family  of  the  name  of  Kuhn,  all  of 
whose  members  had  long  been  residents  of  that 
country.  On  both  sides  his  parents  were  of  Hebrew 
extraction,  and  of  the  Hebrew  faith,  and  his  seven 
brothers  and  four  sisters  all  adhered  to  the  religion 
of  their  forefathers. 

After  completing  his  studies  he  came  at  fifteen 
years  of  age  to  the  United  States,  in  company  with 
his  brother  Edward,  who  later  served  two  consecutive 
terms  as  state  treasurer  of  Oregon.  He  at  once 
obtained  a  clerkship  at  New  Haven,  Connecticut, 
where,  however,  he  remained  only  for  a  few  months, 
proceeding  thence  to  New  York  city,  and  soon  after 
ward  to  Rochester,  New  Hampshire.  There  he 
remained  as  a  clerk  until  1858,  when  he  removed  to 
Oregon.  After  a  brief  residence  in  Salem,  he  engaged 
in  business  at  Dallas,  and  three  years  later  at  Silver- 
ton,  in  partnership  with  his  brother.  At  both  points 
he  was  very  successful,  and  there  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  fortune.  But  the  sphere  of  operations  was  too 
contracted  for  a  man  of  his  enterprise  and  ability,  and 
in  1864  he  went  to  Portland,  where  he  established 
a  general  wholesale  business  on  the  west  side  of 
Front  street  in  connection  with  L,  Fleishner  and  A. 


678  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

Schlussel,  under  the  firm  name  of  Fleishner  and  com 
pany.  Thus  it  continued  until  1874,  when  Jacob 
Mayer,  a  wholesale  dry -goods  merchant  was  admitted 
into  partnership,  and  the  style  of  the  firm  was 
changed  to  Fleishner,  Mayer  and  company,  which 
name  it  retains. 

Business  increased  rapidly,  so  that  in  the  following 
year  more  extensive  premises  were  needed,  and  they 
became  acknowledged  as  the  leading  dry -goods  house 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  outside  of  San  Francisco,  while 
their  sales  far  exceeded  those  of  some  of  the  more 
pretentious  establishments  in  that  metropolis.  This 
result  is  largely  due  to  the  energy  and  zeal  of  Mr 
Hirsch,  who  for  several  years  devoted  nearly  one-half 
of  his  time  to  travelling  as  a  salesman,  thus  becoming 
acquainted  with  many  of  the  most  prominent  men, 
not  only  in  Oregon,  but  in  Washington  and  Idaho. 
During  these  journeys  he  became  intimate  with  busi 
ness  men  throughoit  the  northwest,  to  whom,  he  so 
commended  himself,  that,  as  a  friend  of  his  remarked, 
"he  bound  them  to  him  with  bands  of  steel." 

Between  1866  and  1868  the  firm  was  interested  in 
the  Brownsville  Woolen  Manufacturing  company,  the 
products  of  which,  valued  at  about  $150,000  a  year, 
and  consisting  mainly  of  cassimeres,  doeskins,  tweeds, 
flannels,  and  blankets,  were  marketed  in  Oregon, 
California,  Idaho,  and  Washington.  In  the  latter 
year,  however,  they  disposed  of  their  stock,  and  since 
that  date  have  taken  no  further  interest  in  the  con 
cern.  Among  the  reasons  for  their  withdrawal  was 
probably  a  decrease  in  the  demand  for  the  products 
of  the  mill,  caused  by  the  greater  volume  of  eastern 
goods  shipped  to  this  country  during  the  years  that 
followed  the  conclusion  of  the  war.  On  account  of 
the  high  rates  of  wages,  taxation,  and  interest,  the 
cost  of  fuel  and  water,  and  other  drawbacks,  such 
enterprises  at  that  time  found  little  favor  with  local 
capitalists. 

With  numerous  enterprises  beneficial  to  the  com- 


SOLOMON  HIRSCH.  679 

in  unity,  Mr  Hirsch  has  been  closely  identified,  aiding 
to  organize  and  build  them  up,  and  taking  stock  in 
others,  to  which  he  was  unable  to  give  personal 
attention.  The  success  of  many  such  undertakings 
has  been  due  to  his  executive  ability.  Among  his 
other  interests  apart  from  the  firm  may  be  mentioned 
his  investments  in  real  estate,  which  he  considers  the 
soundest  and  safest  of  all  his  business  ventures.  The 
correctness  of  his  judgment  is  proved  by  the  rapid  and 
continuous  advance  in  the  values  of  realty,  which  for 
several  years  ending  with  1881  increased  on  an  aver 
age,  within  the  city  limits  of  Portland,  twenty  per 
cent  annually,  while  for  1880,  the  appreciation  was 
forty  per  cent.  In  the  estimation  even  of  the  most 
conservative  men,  this  advance  was  entirely  legiti 
mate,  in  view  of  the  rapid  strides  made  in  railroad 
construction  and  the  vast  number  of  immigrants  set 
tling  on  lands  tributary  to  Portland. 

That  part  of  the  Pacific  coast  which  is  included 
in  the    United  States  has  lono-  been  noted    for   the 

o 

number  of  its  millionaires,  and  nowhere  is  there  a 
larger  proportion  of  men  who,  if  they  do  not  count 
their  wealth  by  millions,  are  possessed  of  abundant 
means,  than  in  the  city  of  Portland.  In  no  other 
land  is  there  so  large  a  percentage  of  rich  men 
who  began  life  at  the  beginning.  Out  of  every  fifty 
men  who  may  be  called  wealthy  not  more  than  two 
or  three  at  most  brought  to  this  country  as  much 
as  $50,000,  and  of  those  who  retained  even  what  they 
brought,  though  they  may  since  have  gathered  wis 
dom  from  experience,  the  proportion  is  but  little 
greater.  Among  the  former  there  are  not  a  few  who 
are  ashamed  of  their  early  poverty  or  early  associates; 
but  most  of  our  capitalists  who  began  life  in  some 
humble  capacity,  as  a  clerk  in  a  store,  a  purveyor  in 
a  mining  camp,  a  retail  tradesman,  or  even  driving  a 
team  or  handling  a  pick,  have  the  manliness  and  good 
sense  rather  to  be  proud  of  their  early  career,  min 
gling  freely  with  the  friends  of  their  early  days,  and 


080  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

ready  to  extend  a  helping  hand  to  those  who  need 
assistance.  Such  a  man  is  Mr  Hirsch,  for  though 
now  enjoying  all  the  blessings  of  life,  an  ample  for 
tune,  a  constitution  unimpaired  by  dissipation  or 
excess,  the  society  of  family  and  friends,  the  respect 
and  good- will  of  his  fellow-men,  and  a  position  in  the 
ranks  of  commerce,  society,  and  politics  of  which  he 
may  well  be  proud,  he  remembers  without  shame  or 
regret  when  he  was  himself  an  almost  friendless 
youth  struggling  to  gain  a  foothold.  Nor  are  these 
results  due  to  accident.  They  have  been  achieved 
by  the  exceptional  force  of  character,  the  marvellous 
energy  and  the  iron  will  of  one  in  whose  vocabulary 
there  is  no  such  word  as  fail.  The  leadership  of  such 
men  is  inevitable.  In  physique  Mr  Hirsch  is  a 
remarkable  specimen  of  mature  and  vigorous  man 
hood.  Nearly  six  feet  in  height  and  with  a  powerful 
and  well-developed  frame,  he  is  one  whose  stature 
and  build  would  alone  attract  attention.  With  regu 
lar  and  well-shaped  features,  jet-black  hair  and  beard 
of  luxuriant  growth,  dark,  penetrating  eyes,  and  a 
lofty  and  spacious  forehead,  his  appearance  fully  jus 
tifies  the  reputation  which  he  enjoys  as  one  of  the 
most  intelligent  looking  men  in  Portland — indeed,  a 
type  of  the  Hebrew  race,  to  which,  in  its  normal 
development,  Arnold  Guyot  ascribes  a  rank  second 
only  to  the  Greek  in  intellectual  and  physical  char 
acter.  Mr  Hirsch  has  been  identified  with  the 
republican  party  in  Oregon  since  1864,  and  has 
become  one  of  its  ablest  and  most  prominent  leaders. 
In  that  year  it  happened  that  his  eldest  brother, 
Mayer,  then  a  prominent  merchant  in  Salem,  went  to 
the  eastern  states.  It  occurred  to  Solomon  Hirsch 
that  his  brother  was  well  qualified  for  the  position  of 
delegate  to  the  republican  national  convention,  soon 
to  be  held  at  Baltimore.  He  proceeded  to  Albany, 
where  the  state  convention  was  to  meet,  and  broached 
the  matter  to  a  few  of  his  friends,  all  of  whom  were 
in  favor  of  his  project.  After  a  sharp  struggle  he 


SOLOMON  HIRSCH.  681 

succeeded  in  securing  his  brother's  election,  the 
remaining  delegates  from  Oregon  being  Josiah  Fail 
ing,  Thomas  H.  Pearne,  Frederick  Charman,  Hiram 
Smith,  and  J.  W.  Souther,  all  men  of  ability  and 
prominence.  Thus  was  the  state  represented  at  the 
second  nomination  for  the  presidency  of  Abraham 
Lincoln.  Of  Mayer  Hirsch  it  remains  only  to  be  said 
that  his  tact  and  ability  soon  brought  him  to  the 
front  rank  of  his  party,  and  that  no  one  was  more 
deeply  regretted  than  he  when,  a  few  years  later, 
during  a  business  visit  to  New  York,  his  career 
was  cut  short  by  a  fatal  sickness.  In  1872  Mr 
Hirsch  was  elected  a  member  of  the  lower  house  for 
Multnomah  county,  which  holds  the  control  in  the 
legislature  of  Oregon.  In  recognition  of  his  acknowl 
edged  financial  ability,  he  was  appointed  a  member  of 
the  committee  on  ways  and  means,  in  which  capacity 
he  used  all  the  weight  of  his  influence  in  support  of 
the  first  appropriation  for  the  building  of  the  state 
capitol.  In  1874  and  again  in  1878  and  1882  he  was 
chosen  by  the  same  county  for  the  state  senate,  on 
each  occasion  by  an  increased  majority,  while  having 
pitted  against  him  the  very  best  men  whom  the  demo 
crats  could  bring  forward.  His  first  opponent  was 
Judge  Strong,  a  most  able  and  popular  candidate ;  and 
it  is  worthy  of  note  that  Mr  Hirsch  was  the  only  one 
selected  in  opposition  to  the  independent  ticket,  which 
then  almost  swept  the  field.  In  1878  his  opponent 
was  J.  B.  Congle,  a  successful  business  man  of  Port 
land  and  one  who  had  been  honored  with  many  pub 
lic  offices.  During  his  second  term  he  was  chosen 

o 

president  of  the  senate  by  the  unanimous  republican 
vote  of  that  body,  and  while  in  that  position  his 
knowledge  of  the  rules  of  procedure,  his  rare  execu 
tive  ability,  and  his  strict  impartiality  gained  for 
him  the  approbation  even  of  his  political  adversaries. 
In  1882  he  defeated  John  Catlin  by  nearly  1,200 
votes.  This  being  the  largest  majority  ever  returned 
in  'the  election  of  a  state  senator  is  sufficient  evi- 


682  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

dence  of  the  popularity  which  he  then  enjoyed.  In 
April  of  this  year,  at  the  state  convention  held  at 
Portland,  he  was  unanimously  recommended  by  the 
republican  delegation  from  his  county  as  a  member  of 
the  state  central  committee,  of  which  he  was  afterr 
ward  appointed  chairman.  To  his  able  management 
of  the  campaign,  which  resulted  from  the  first  time 
since  1870  in  the  election  of  a  republican  governor, 
was  largely  due  the  disastrous  defeat  of  the  dem 
ocrats.  Never,  it  is  said,  in  the  history  of  the  state 
was  a  political  campaign  more  skilfully  organized 
or  more  ably  managed.  In  this  year,  also,  he 
endeavored  to  secure  the  election  of  Mr  Mitchell 
to  the  United  States  senate,  but  after  a  protracted 
struggle,  was  compelled  to  retire  from  the  contest, 
the  choice  of  the  republicans  finally  centering  on  Sena 
tor  Dolph,  who  was,  however,  among  Mr  Hirsch's 
warmest  political  friends.  In  1885  Mr  Hirsch  was 
proposed  for  United  States  senator.  It  was  a  mem 
orable  occasion.  The  balloting  went  on  continuously 
for  forty  days,  Sundays  excepted,  during  all  of  which 
time  he  did  not  lose  a  single  vote.  Finally,  it  was 
found  impossible  to  come  to  a  decision,  arid  thus 
for  the  first  time  since  her  admission,  the  state  of 
Oregon  was  without  her  proper  representation  in 
congress.  On  the  last  day  of  the  session  a  conven 
tion  met  at  noon  with  a  view  to  make  a  selection,  and 
continued  its  labors  until  eleven  o'clock  at  night. 
Meanwhile  Mr  Hirsch  called  for  a  recess,  in  order 
that  the  republicans  might  bring  forward  another 
candidate ;  but  to  no  purpose,  for  after  casting  some 
forty  ballots,  the  senate  adjourned  without  making  a 
choice.  During  the  next  session  he  refused  to  per 
mit  his  name  to  appear,  Mr  Mitchell  thereupon  being 
selected,  and  at  the  expiration  of  his  term  he  retired 
from  politics,  except  that  in  1888  he  allowed  himself 
to  be  elected  a  member  of  the  republican  state  con 
vention.  Many  were  the  regrets  of  his  friends  and  of 
his  party  when  the  member  for  Multnomah  county 


SOLOMON  HIRSCH.  683 

appeared  for  the  last  time  on  the  floor  of  the  senate 
chamber,  for  none  were  more  respected  and  by  no  one 
could  his  place  be  filled.  For  he  was  admirably 
fitted  for  leadership,  not  only  by  his  intelligence  and 
commanding  presence,  but  by  other  essential  quali 
ties.  Calm  and  imperturbable  amid  the  strife  of 
debate,  he  allowed  nothing  to  ruffle  his  temper,  or  to 
bias  his  judgment ;  once  assured  that  he  was  in  the 
right,  he  knew  not  how  to  yield.  Ever  watchful  of 
the  interests  of  his  constituents  and  of  his  party,  there 
were  few  who  could  support  its  measures  with  more 
cogent  arguments,  or  could  detect  more  readily  the 
weak  points  in  those  of  his  opponents.  Though  not 
an  orator,  or  at  least  not  given  to  rhetorical  display, 
he  was  a  terse  and  forcible  speaker,  expressing  his 
ideas  in  neat  and  simple  phrase,  and  always  in  words 
suited  to  the  moment  and  the  place.  Regarding  his 
career  as  a  statesman,  Mr  Jo&eph  Simon,  himself  a 
conspicuous  republican  leader,  and  president  of  the 
state  senate  in  1889,  remarked:  ''Mr  Hirsch  first 
became  closely  identified  with  politics  in  1872,  when 
he  was  elected  to  the  legislature,  being  chosen  state 
senator  in  1874  and  except  for  a  period  of  two  years 
serving  continuously  until  1886.  He  was  regarded 
as  a  suitable  man  to  represent  the  business  element  in 
the  community,  and  for  that  purpose  he  was  selected. 
At  the  session  of  1885  he  was  voted  for  and  was  the 
choice  of  the  people  and  of  the  legislature  for  United 
States  senator,  but  after  long  protracted  balloting 
was  not  elected,  though  he  lacked  only  three  or  four 
of  the  required  number  of  votes.  To  his  efforts, 
as  chairman  of  the  republican  state  central  commit 
tee  in  1882,  is  attributed  the  success  of  the  party 
in  the  campaign  which  followed.  He  is  a  man  of 
great  ability,  with  remarkable  power  of  organiza 
tion,  and  well  acquainted  and  extremely  popular 
throughout  the  state."  And  thus  speaks  Matthew 
P.  Deady,  United  States  district  judge  for  Oregon  : 
"I  knew  Mr  Hirsch  in  1858,  when  he  first  came 


684  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

to  Oregon.  He  was  one  of  the  handsomest  men 
I  ever  saw,  tall,  erect,  well  built,  and  with  beautiful 
hair  and  beard.  Some  years  ago  he  was  drawn  into 
politics,  being  the  republican  nominee  first  for  the 
assembly  and  afterward  for  the  senate,  and  soon 
became  the  controlling  power  in  his  party,  having  in 
his  hands  the  making  and  unmaking  of  others.  Not 
withstanding  his  long  career  as  a  politician,  and  his 
intercourse  with  all  kinds  of  people,  there  is  nothing 
to  be  said  against  him  ;  he  is  a  most  conscientious 
man,  temperate  in  his  habits  and  much  devoted  to  his 
family.  He  should  have  been  sent  to  the  United 
States  senate,  for  he  had  a  majority  of  his  party's 
votes.  But  for  his  own  sake,  it  was,  perhaps,  better 
that  he  subsequently  withdrew  from  the  contest, 
for  such  a  career  would  have  interfered  too  much 
with  his  business  interests."  On  the  1st  of  Feb 
ruary  1870  Senator  Hirsch  was  married  in  the 
city  of  Portland  to  Miss  Josephine  Mayer,  the 
daughter  of  one  of  the  partners  in  the  firm  of  which 
he  is  still  an  active  member.  A  native  of  Louisiana, 
Mrs  Hirsch  removed  with  her  parents  to  California 
when  only  two  years  of  age,  and  afterward  became  a 
resident  of  Portland,  where  she  has  long  been  one  of 
the  leaders  in  society  and  is  universally  esteemed  ft  r 
her  many  estimable  qualities.  Their  four  children 
are  all  natives  of  Portland,  where  they  attended 
school,  for  the  senator  is  satisfied  with  the  excellent 
local  facilities  for  education.  When  only  sixteen 
years  of  age,  their  only  son  had  outgrown  his  father 
in  stature,  being  then  six  feet  one  inch  in  height, 
and  already  gave  promise  of  an  honorable  and  use 
ful  career,  such  as  that  which  his  father  can  now 
look  back  upon  with  a  consciousness  of  a  well-ordered 
and  blameless  life.  In  1889,  in  recognition  of  his  fit 
ness  for  the  office,  his  substantial  popularity  and  his 
valuable  service  to  the  party  of  the  administration, 
President  Harrison  appointed  him  as  embassador  of 
the  United  States  at  the  court  of  Turkey,  The  dis- 


SOLOMON  HIRSCH.  685 

tinction  was  totally  unsolicited  on  the  part  of  Mr 
Hirsch,  nor  was  he  aware  of  the  appointment  until  it 
had  been  procured  for  him  through  the  friendly  zeal 
of  the  leaders  of  the  republican  party,  who  were  eager 
to  acknowledge  in  a  becomino-  manner  their  own 

• 

indebtedness  to  him  and,  also,  to  gratify  their  con 
stituency.  Coming  to  him  as  it  did  he  was  much 
gratified  and  fully  appreciated  the  compliment.  He  is 
not  unaware  of  the  responsibilities  that  are  involved  in 
the  exalted  position  to  which  he  has  been  called,  and 
those  who  know  him  need  no  guarantee  that  he  will 
be  equal  to  any  emergency  that  may  arise,  or  that 
he  will  discharge  the  duties  of  his  trust  with 
dignity  and  credit.  When,  October  25,  1889,  after 
many  expressions  of  congratulation  and  good-will 
had  been  offered  him  in  public  and  in  private,  he 
left  Portland  for  Constantinople,  he  carried  with 
him  the  universal  confidence  and  affection  of  the  com 
munity,  their  only  solicitude  being  that  his  health, 
which  had  been  impaired  a  short  time  before  by  a 
severe  illness,  might  be  reestablished  by  travel  and 
change  of  scene.  His  fond  wish  was  to  keep  his 
family  together  with  him  at  all  times,  but  he  yielded 
to  the  importunity  of  his  son,  who  is  ambitious 
to  enter  commerce,  at  once,  and  allowed  him  to 
remain  with  the  business  house. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

LIFE  OF  LA  FAYETTE  GROVER. 

MASSACHUSETTS  COLONY  —  GROVER  FAMILY  IN  AMERICA— LA  FAYETTE 
GROVER'S  EARLY  EXPERIENCES  —  COMING  TO  OREGON  — PROSECUTING 
ATTORNEY — MEMBER  OF  THE  LEGISLATURE — OFFICER  OF  VOLUNTEERS- 
MEMBER  OF  CONGRESS— BUSINESS  AFFAIRS — GOVERNOR  OF  OREGON- 
UNITED  STATES  SENATOR — CHARACTER. 

AMONG  those  who  in  1630  accompanied  Governor 
Winthrop's  colony  from  England  to  Massachusetts 
were  Thomas  Grover  and  his  wife  Eliza.  They  finally 
settled  near  Charlestown,  "on  the  mystic  side,"  now 
Maiden,  and  took  part  in  founding  the  first  church  in 
that  town.  Three  grandsons  of  these  first  settlers  in 
1702  bought  wild  lands  in  the  north  precinct  of 
Taunton,  afterwards  included  in  Norton,  now  Mans 
field,  Massachusetts,  which  had  originally  been  granted 
to  Captain  Miles  Standish  for  defending  the  colony 
against  Indians,  and  made  their  homes  there.  They 
joined  in  organizing  the  first  church  in  Norton,  which 
about  that  time  was  incorporated  by  itself,  and  one 
of  them  became  a  deacon  of  this  primitive  church. 
James  Grover,  a  descendant  of  one  of  these,  with  five 
sons  and  three  daughters,  removed  in  1781  to  a  wil 
derness  district  in  Oxford  county,  Maine,  now  Bethel, 
where  he  organized  the  first  church  of  that  settlement, 
becoming  its  senior  deacon.  The  early  Grovers  in 
Massachusetts  intermarried  with  the  Austins,  Chad- 
wicks,  Coxes,  and  other  substantial  New  England 
families.  They  were  deacons  in  the  church,  and 

(686) 


LAFAYETTE  GROVER,  687 

selectmen  of  the  towns  in  which  they  lived,  "in  good 
old  colony  times."  They  served  in  the  early  Indian 
wars  in  New  England,  in  the  old  French  war  of  1755 
for  the  reduction  of  Canada  to  English  rule,  and  in 
the  war  of  the  revolution.  John  Grover,  eldest  son 
of  Deacon  James  Grover,  was  the  proprietor's  agent 
in  surveying  and  laying  out  the  town  of  Bethel,  and 
in  constructing  roads  to  connect  it  with  neighboring 
towns.  The  Grovers  purchased  extensive  tracts  of 
land  in  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  town,  extending 
from  the  Androscoggin  river  up  to  a  series  of  eleva 
tions  then  and  now  called  Grover  hills,  where  they 
established  the  permanent  homes  of  the  family  in 
Maine.  Here,  in  1783,  was  born  John  Grover,  the 
son  of  John,  a  distinguished  physician,  surgeon,  and 
scholar,  who  for  more  than  fifty  years  practised  his 
profession  throughout  that  part  of  the  state. 

Dr  Grover  served  as  an  assistant-surgeon  in  the 
war  of  1812.  He  was  a  member  of  the  convention 
which  framed  the  constitution  of  Maine  in  1819,  and 
after  the  admission  of  the  state  to  the  union  he  served 
in  both  branches  of  the  legislature  for  several  years. 
But  when  in  1830  it  became  necessary  for  him  to 
choose  whether  he  would  give  his  services  to  the 
public  or  to  his  profession,  he  definitely  chose  the 
latter,  and  ever  afterwards  during  a  long  life  was 
wholly  devoted  to  its  practice.  He  accepted  the 
position  of  surgeon-in-chief  of  the  military  forces 
called  into  service  under  General  Scott  to  repel  the 
invasion  of  Maine  by  British  troops  in  1837,  during 
the  dispute  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  as  to  the  northeastern  boundary  of  that  state. 
Dr  Grover  was  an  enthusiastic  promoter  of  education 
of  all  classes,  and  for  thirty  years  he  was  president  of 
the  board  of  trustees  of  Gould's  academy  in  Bethel, 
of  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders.  He  died  in 
1867. 

He  was  the  father  of  four  sons,  Abernethy,  Talley 
rand,  La  Fayette,  and  Cuvier,  and  of  two  daughters 


688  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

who  died  3roung.  The  three  elder  sons  were  chiefly 
educated  at  Gould's  academy,  Bethel,  and  at  Bowdoin 
college;  the  youngest  son  at  West  Point  military 
academy. 

Major  Abernethy  Grover  followed  a  business 
career;  served  as  a  member  of  the  Maine  legislature, 
and  of  the  governor's  council  of  that  state ;  and 
throughout  the  late  civil  war  he  served  as  captain 
and  major  of  the  13th  regiment  of  Maine  volunteers. 
By  appointment  of  President  Cleveland,  he  was  regis 
ter  of  the  United  States  land  office  at  Miles  City, 
Montana. 

Professor  Talleyrand  Grover  was  for  nine  years 
professor  of  languages  in  Delaware  college,  at  New 
ark,  Delaware  ;  a  part  of  this  period  he  was  instructor 
of  the  modern  languages,  of  which  he  was  a  perfect 
master,  having  spent  some  time  in  Europe  in  their 
acquisition.  He  was  afterwards  professor  of  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew,  in  which  languages  he  was 
equally  versed.  He  resigned  his  position  to  pursue 
his  literary  studies  abroad.  He  was  a  young  man  of 
great  brilliancy  and  promise,  but  died  prematurely  at 
the  university  of  Upsalla,  in  Sweden,  in  1859. 

General  Cuvier  Grover  graduated  at  West  Point 
in  1850.  During  his  whole  course  at  that  institution, 
after  the  first  year,  his  name  appeared  in  the  list  of 
distinguished  cadets  annually  published  in  the  army 
register.  His  history  is  well  known  as  the  distin 
guished  division  commander  of  that  name  during  the 
late  war.  He  died  at  the  early  age  of  fifty-eight,  his 
life  being  cut  short  by  extreme  hardships  and  wounds 
incident  to  his  military  services. 

La  Fayette  Grover,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who 
became  the  first  representative  in  congress  from  the 
state  of  Oregon,  and  afterwards  governor  of  that  state 

O          '  *--'  -. 

and  senator  of  the  United  States,  was  the  third  son 
of  Dr  John  and  Fanny  Grover.  The  mother  of  this 
family,  a  woman  of  marked  character,  was  a  descend 
ant,  on  the  mother's  side,  of  the  Woodman  family  of 


LAFAYETTE  G  ROVER.  689 

Massachusetts,  whose  first  ancestor  came  from  New- 
bury,  England,  and  settled  in  Newbury,  now  New- 
buryport,  in  1635,  and  who  was  one  of  the  early 
magistrates  of  the  town.  Governor  La  Fayette 
Grover  was  born  in  Bethel,  Maine,  November  29, 
1823,  was  educated  at  the  classical  academy  of  that 
town,  and  at  Bowdoin  college,  Maine.  He  studied 
law  in  Philadelphia  under  the  instruction  of  the  late 
Asa  I.  Fish,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  there  in 
March  1850.  Late  in  the  autumn  of  that  year  he 
took  passage  on  a  merchant  vessel  bound  round  Cape 
Horn  to  San  Francisco,  where  he  arrived  in  July 
1851,  and  in  the  next  month  he  arrived  in  Portland, 
Oregon,  by  the  old  steamer  Columbia,  then  on  one  of 
her  early  trips.  He  at  once  proceeded  to  Salem,  the 
capital  of  the  territory,  and  established  himself  as  a 
lawyer.  The  first  regular  term  of  the  United  States 
district  court  was  held  at  Salem  in  the  following 
month,  and  on  the  invitation  of  Chief-justice  Nelson, 
who  presided  over  the  court,  Mr  Grover  became  the 
clerk,  stipulating  that  he  would  accept  the  position 
temporarily,  and  until  a  suitable  successor  could  be 
appointed.  He  held  the  office  six  months,  obtaining 
an  excellent  acquaintance  with  local  court  procedure, 
and  with  jurors,  witnesses,  and  litigants.  The  follow 
ing  spring,  resigning  the  clerkship,  he  formed  a  law 
partnership  with  Benjamin  F.  Harding.  With  him 
Mr  Grover  at  once  entered  upon  a  general  and  lucra 
tive  practice,  which  lasted  for  several  years. 

In  1852  he  was  elected  by  the  legislature  prose 
cuting  attorney  of  the  second  judicial  district  of  the 
territory,  which  district  then  extended  from  Oregon 
City  to  the  California  line.  In  1853  he  was  elected 
and  served  as  member  of  the  territorial  legislature. 
During  the  summer  of  this  year  serious  hostilities  of 
the  Rogue  River  Indians  occurred  in  southern  Ore 
gon,  and  Mr  Grover  was  appointed  by  Governor 
Curry  recruiting  officer  to  raise  volunteer  troops  to 
aid  the  settlers  against  the  hostiles.  This  was 


c.  B.— ii.  44 


690  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

promptly  done,  and  a  company  was  at  once  mustered 
at  Salem,  of  which  J.  W.  Nesmith  was  elected  cap 
tain  and  L.  F.  Grover  first  lieutenant.  These  troops, 
with  a  pack-train  loaded  with  arms,  ammunition,  and 
supplies,  hastened  south  to  the  aid  of  the  hard-pressed 
settlers  in  southern  Oregon.  At  the  close  of  hostili 
ties  in  September,  Mr  Grover  appeared  as  deputy 
United  States  district  attorney  in  the  district  courts 
in  the  southern  counties,  then  being  held  for  the  first 
time  by  Judge  M.  P.  Deady.  Congress  having 
assumed  the  compensation  of  settlers  whose  property 
had  been  destroyed  by  hostile  Indians  during  the 
Rogue  River  war  of  1853,  Mr  Grover  was  appointed 
one  of  the  commissioners  to  assess  the  spoliations, 
and  served  as  president  of  the  board,  in  1854.  He 
was  again  returned  as  a  member  of  the  legislature 
from  Marion  county  in  1855,  and  served  as  speaker 
of  the  house  during  the  session  of  1855-6. 

During  this  period  the  combined  Indian  tribes  from 
the  California  line  to  the  British  boundary  attacked 
the  frontier  settlements  in  a  determined  manner 
throughout  Oregon  and  Washington,  and  two  thou 
sand  volunteers  were  called  into  the  field  to  cooperate 
with  the  regular  forces  for  their  suppression.  In  this 
movement  on  the  part  of  Oregon  Mr  Grover  aided 
in  raising  troops,  and  served  in  the  field  throughout 
the  Yakima  campaign  on  the  staff  of  Colonel  Nesmith. 
He  served  the  following  year  as  a  member  of  the 
military  commission,  appointed  by  the  secretary  of 
war  under  authority  of  an  act  of  congress,  in  auditing 
and  reporting  to  the  war  department  the  expenses  of 
Oregon  and  Washington  incurred  in  suppressing  Ind 
ian  hostilities  of  1855-6.  On  this  commission  his 
co-laborers  were  captains  A.  J.  Smith  and  Rufus 
Ingalls. 

The  people  of  Oregon  having  resolved  to  form  a 
constitution,  and  to  apply  for  admission  to  the  union 
as  a  state,  the  voters  of  Marion  county  elected  Mr 
Grover  a  member  of  the  convention  which  was  con- 


LAFAYETTE  GROVER.  691 

vened  for  that  purpose  at  Salem  in  1857.  In  that 
convention  he  served  as  chairman  of  the  committee 
on  the  bill  of  rights,  and  as  member  of  several  other 
important  committees,  and  took  an  active  and  promi 
nent  part  in  giving  direction  to  the  work  of  that  body. 

Upon  the  holding  of  a  general  election  under  the 
constitution  of  the  new  state,  Mr  Grover  was  returned 
as  the  first  representative  in  congress  from  Oregon. 
The  chief  work  of  the  Oregon  delegation  at  this  time 
was  devoted  to  securing  the  admission  of  the  state  to 
the  union,  and  the  assumption  of  the  Oregon  Indian 
war  debt. 

Retiring  from  the  thirty -fifth  congress,  he  devoted 
himself  almost  exclusively  for  ten  years  to  professional 
and  business  pursuits.  He  formed  a  law  partnership 
at  Salem  with  the  late  Joseph  S.  Smith,  subsequently 
member  of  congress,  which  was  afterwards  extended 

^j  ' 

to  Portland,  including  W.  W.  Page.  This  firm  con 
ducted  a  very  important  and  lucrative  practice  through 
out  the  state  for  several  years.  BANCROFT 

Taking  an  early  and  active  interest  in  the  establish- 
ment  of  manufactures  in  the  new  state,  Mr  Grover, 
with  some  others  organized  the  Willamette  Woollen 
Manufacturing  company  at  Salem  in  1856.  This 
corporation  had  in  view  the  introduction  to  the  state 
capital,  by  canal  and  natural  channels,  the  waters  of 
the  Santiam  river  as  power  for  general  manufa'ctures. 
He  became  one  of  the  directors  of  the  company,  and 
remained  in  this  connection  for  fifteen  years,  during 
which  period  this,  the  first  broad  enterprise  for  man 
ufactures  in  Oregon,  attained  large  proportions  and 
great  success. 

In  1860  Mr  Grover  purchased  the  shares  of  Joseph 
Watt  in  this  corporation,  and  became  owner  of  one- 
third  of  all  the  mills  and  water-power  of  Salem. 
From  1867  to  1871  he  was  manager  of  the  company. 
Under  his  direction  the  Salem  flouring  mills,  which 
had  been  begun,  were  completed,  including  the  putting 
in  of  all  the  machinery  and  works,  and  constructing  a 


f>92  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

steamboat  canal  from  the  river  to  the  mills.  These 
flouring  mills  were  a  marked  success  from  the  start, 
and  were  the  first  direct  shippers  of  Oregon  flour  by 
the  cargo  to  foreign  countries.  The  operations  of 
this  company  were  great  stimulants  to  the  growth  of 
wheat  and  wool  in  early  Oregon,  and  facilitated  many 
other  business  enterprises  in  all  directions.  The 
unfortunate  destruction  of  the  Salem  woollen  mills  by 
fire  occurred  subsequently  to  Mr  Grover's  retirement 
from  the  company. 

In  1866  he  presided  over  the  democratic  state  con 
vention  of  that  year,  and  was  elected  chairman  of  the 
state  central  committee,  which  position  he  held  for 
four  years.  During  this  period  the  democratic  party 
attained  the  ascendancy  in  the  politics  of  the  state, 
which  it  had  not  had  since  1860. 

In  1870  Mr  Grover  was  elected  by  the  democratic 
party  as  governor  of  the  state  for  four  years,  and  in 
1874  he  was  reflected  to  the  same  position,  which  he 
held  till  1877,  when  he  entered  the  senate  of  the 
United  States,  having  been  elected  to  that  position 
by  the  legislative  assembly  at  its  September  session 
of  the  previous  year.  In  his  canvass  for  the  gover 
norship  he  based  the  chief  issue  on  the  abrogation  of 
the  Burlingame  treaty  with  China,  though  the  sub 
ject  was  not  mentioned  in  the  platform  of  either  polit 
ical  party. 

During:  Governor  Grover's  term  as  chief  executive, 

O 

which  lasted  nearly  seven  years,  many  changes  took 
place,  and  unusual  progress  was  made  in  business 
enterprises,  and  in  the  general  condition  of  Oregon. 
His  first  step  as  executive  was  to  put  in  force  a  law 
which  had  been  enacted  two  years  previously,  but  not 
executed,  providing  for  tugboats  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  river,  and  a  subsidy  for  their  support.  This 
movement  gave  the  first  reliable  basis  for  a  coastwise 
and  foreign  commerce  from  Oregon's  great  river, 
which  took  root  vigorously,  and  has  increased  ever 
since  to  its  now  strong  proportions. 


LAFAYETTE  GROVER.  693 

He  favored  the  construction  of  the  locks  at  the 
Willamette  falls  by  a  private  company,  assisted  by 
aid  from  the  state.  The  project  was  successful,  and 
opened  the  Willamette  river  to  competition  with  the 
railroads,  and  reduced  freights  throughout  the  Wil- 

'  O  O 

lamette  valley  to  such  extent  as  to  stimulate  greatly 
farm  production  and  general  commerce. 

Another  object  of  his  administration  was  the  secur 
ing  to  the  state  the  segregation  and  patenting  of  all 
public  lands  to  which  Oregon  was  entitled  under  vari 
ous  grants  by  congress,  and  a  recognition  of  her  rights 
to  the  tide  lands  which  she  held  by  reason  of  her 
sovereignty  as  a  state.  All  these  rights  became 
recognized,  and  a  large  proportion  of  these  lands  was 
secured  to  Oregon  during  Governor  Grover's  admin 
istration. 

He  also  favored  the  erection  of  permanent  public 
buildings  for  the  state,  and  during  his  term  of  office 
penitentiary  buildings  and  the  statehouse  were  erected 
of  permanent  and  enduring  structure,  an  example  of 
economy  and  honesty  in  public  work.  One  feature 
may  be  noted  in  these  buildings:  they  were  erected 
at  an  expense  inside  of  the  estimates  of  the  architects 
— quite  unusual  in  such  cases.  While  the  statehouse 
was  not  at  first  carried  to  full  completion,  its  mason 
work  was  all  done,  the  entire  roof  put  on,  and  so  much 
of  the  interior  was  finished  as  to  render  it  suitable  for 
the  convenience  of  the  state  offices,  the  legislature, 
and  the  supreme  court. 

The  grants  bv  congress  for  the  establishment  and 

O  tJ  O 

support  of  a  state  university  and  for  an  agricultural 
college  in  Oregon  having  been  secured  and  utilized, 
Governor  Grover  interested  himself  in  promoting  the 
organization  of  these  institutions,  which  was  also 
accomplished  during  his  term  of  office.  There  was 
also,  during  the  same  period,  founded  at  Salem  the 
institution  for  deaf  mutes  and  the  school  for  the  blind. 
Having  labored  to  secure  to  the  state  the  indemnity 
common  school  lands,  held  in  lieu  of  those  occupied 


694  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

by  settlers  before  the  public  surveys,  and  the  proceeds 
of  their  sales  having  been  invested  for  common  school 
revenues,  the  period  had  arrived  for  a  more  complete 
organization  of  the  public  school  system  of  the  state, 
and  for  its  support  out  of  the  public  funds  thus  util 
ized.  This  important  foundation  work  was  also 
accomplished,  and  the  first  distribution  of  public  funds 
by  the  state  in  support  of  common  schools  in  Oregon 
was  made  during  the  term  of  Governor  Grover  as 
chief  executive. 

In  his  inaugural  address  to  the  legislative  assembly 
in  1870  he  presented  the  subject  of  Chinese  exclusion, 
and  favored  the  abrogation  of  the  treaty  between  the 
United  States  and  China  of  1868,  commonly  known 
as  the  Burlingame  treaty.  The  legislature  of  that 
session,  on  his  recommendation,  memorialized  congress 
to  that  effect,  and  from  that  time  forward,  until  from 
his  seat  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States  he  voted 
for  bills  excluding  the  Chinese,  and  for  a  modified 
treaty  with  China,  both  of  which  prevailed,  he  never 
abated  his  zeal  in  promoting  this  movement. 

An  effort  was  made  in  the  legislature  of  Oregon  in 
1870  to  initiate  a  system  of  subsidizing  railway  cor 
porations  by  bonding  cities  and  counties  in  their 
favor,  as  inducements  to  the  construction  of  their 
roads.  A  bill  was  passed  by  both  houses,  by  more 
than  two-thirds  majorities,  authorizing  the  city  of 
Portland  to  issue  its  bonds  in  the  sum  of  $300,000  in 
favor  of  Ben  Holladay,  to  induce  him  to  build  the 
railroad  up  the  west  side  of  the  Willamette  valley, 
making  its  principal  terminus  at  Portland.  This  bill 
was  considered  by  the  governor  as  against  public 
policy,  and  as  against  distinct  provisions  of  the  state 
constitution.  The  bill  was  vetoed  in  a  message  which 

O 

settled  the  policy  of  the  state  on  the  subject  of  public 
grants  of  money  to  railway  corporations  as  long  as 
the  present  constitution  of  the  state  exists.  This 
veto  having  been  filed  subsequently  to  the  adjourn 
ment  of  the  assembly  went  over  as  an  issue  in  the 


LAFAYETTE  GROVER.  695 

elections  which  returned  the  following  legislature,  and 
the  veto  was  almost  unEnimously  sustained  by  the 
senate,  where  the  bill  originated,  only  one  vote  being 
given  against  it.  So  that  Oregon  has  been  and  now 
is  entirely  free  from  public  debt,  both  general  and 
local,  growing  out  of  the  construction  of  railways, 
which  has  been  the  source  of  much  embarrassment  to 
the  new  western  states. 

The  memorable  contest  for  the  presidency  of  the 
United  States  in  1876  between  Hayes  and  Tilden 
raised  an  electoral  question  in  Oregon.  In  this  case 
Governor  Grover  held,  on  issuing  certificates  of  elec 
tion,  that  under  the  injunction  of  the  constitution  for 
bidding  a  federal  officer  to  be  appointed  a  presidential 
elector,  the  votes  cast  for  him  were  void,  and  as  if 
never  cast.  And  he  gave  the  certificate  to  the  can 
didate  having  the  next  highest  vote.  This  decision 
was  far-reaching,  as  the  contested  vote  in  Oregon 
held  the  balance  of  power  in  the  electoral  college  if 
all  other  contested  votes  in  Louisiana  and  Florida 
should  be  counted  for  Hayes.  And  it  called  for  the 
organization  of  the  electoral  commission,  which  over 
ruled  the  governor's  decision.  But  he  desires  it 
understood  that  on  reexamination  he  adheres  to  his 
original  view. 

Having  been  elected  senator  from  Oregon,  he  took 
his  seat  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States  in  March 
1877. 

In  that  body  he  served  as  member  of  the  commit 
tees  on  military  affairs,  public  lands,  railroads,  terri 
tories,  manufactures,  and  private  land  claims. 

His  chief  efforts  during  his  term  as  senator  were 
to  secure  a  settlement  of  the  Indian  war  claims  of 
Oregon;  to  promote  the  completion  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  railway;  to  obtain  liberal  appropriations  for 
the  surveys  and  improvement  of  the  rivers  and  har 
bors  of  Oregon  and  the  Pacific  northwest  coast ;  and 
the  extension  of  the  government  surveys  of  the  public 
lands  west  of  the  Rocky  mountains.  He  also  labored 


696  GOVERNMENT— OREGON. 

constantly  for  the  modification  of  our  treaties  with 
China,  and  for  the  enactment  of  laws  excluding  the 
Chinese  from  immigrating  to  this  country.  He  made 
speeches  on  the  extension  of  time  to  the  Northern 
Pacific  railway  company  for  the  completion  of  this 
road,  on  the  several  Chinese  exclusion  bills,  and  in 
secret  session  on  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  with 
China  modifying  the  Burlingame  treaty  of  1868,  and 
on  other  subjects. 

His  health  being  impaired,  Mr  Grover  determined 
on  his  retirement  from  the  senate,  in  1883,  to  with 
draw  from  public  life,  and  in  future  to  devote  hims.lf 
exclusively  to  his  personal  and  private  business  affairs, 
which  had  long  suffered  neglect. 

Not  proposing  to  return  to  the  practice  of  his  pro 
fession,  he  entered  vigorously  upon  the  improvement 
and  disposal  of  tracts  of  real  estate  immediately  adja 
cent  to  the  city  of  Portland,  owned  in  part  by  himself 
and  in  part  by  his  wife. 

Having  purchased  a  quarter  interest  in  lands  now 
known  as  Carter's  addition  to  Portland  several  years 
prior,  he  joined  with  the  other  owners  in  laying  out 
and  establishing  that  extension  of  the  city.  In  1884 
Mr  and  Mrs  Grover  laid  out  and  dedicated  a  tract  of 
high  land  belonging  to  her,  the  gift  of  her  parents,  in 
the  northwest  elevation  of  the  city,  as  Grover's  addi 
tion  to  Portland,  naming  it  Portland  Heights,  which 
name  became  so  contagious  that  all  the  high  grounds 
now  forming  the  southwest  part  of  the  city  bear  that 
name.  As  a  business  movement  these  enterprises 
have  proved  a  great  success,  and  these  broken  hills, 
once  so  forbidding,  are  now  occupied  with  fine  resi 
dences,  and  form  a  most  beautiful  and  attractive  part 
of  Portland. 

Mr  Grover  has  made  other  real  estate  investments 
to  the  west  of  the  city,  in  the  path  of  its  future  exten 
sion.  He  became  one  of  the  original  incorporators 
and  stockholders  of  the  Ainsworth  National  bank  of 
Portland  in  1885,  and  later  of  the  Portland  Trust 


LAFAYETTE  GROVER.  697 

company  of  Oregon.  He  is  also  interested  in  the 
Portland  Building  and  Loan  association,  and  in  the 
Portland  Cable  Kail  way  company.  He  has  also 
invested  in  coal  lands.  He  is  an  honorary  member 
of  the  Portland  board  of  trade,  and  takes  a  lively 
interest  in  the  rapidly  increasing  commerce  of  Oregon. 

Mr  Grover  was  married  in  1865  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Carter,  youngest  daughter  of  the  late  Thomas  Carter, 
an  early  resident  of  Portland,  who  was'  one  of  the 
most  successful  merchants  and  real  estate  owners  of 
that  city,  and  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  town.  It 
is  almost  unnecessary  to  say  that  Mrs  Grover  is  one 
of  the  well-known  women  of  the  state,  a  lady  of  high 
accomplishments  and  culture,  and  of  artistic  tastes, 
possessed  also  of  beauty  and  a  graceful  and  distin 
guished  manner.  Throughout  all  the  varying  fortunes 
and  misfortunes  of  her  husband — for  he  has  at  times 
met  with  adverse  currents — she  has  been  his  steady 
companion  and  support.  They  are  communicants  of 
the  episcopal  church. 

Their  son,  John  Cuvier  Grover,  a  youth  of  twenty- 
three  summers,  so  named  after  his  grandfather  and 
uncle,  the  sole  offspring  of  this  union,  was  educated 
at  the  Peekskill  military  academy,  New  York,  and  is 
now  completing  his  studies  in  Europe. 

Thus  we  have  traced  the  leading  incidents  of  the 
career  of  La  Fayette  Grover,  scholar,  lawyer,  law 
giver,  and  man  of  business.  In  appearance  he  is  a  man 
of  imposing  presence,  six  feet  in  height,  and  with  a 
slender  but  vigorous  and  well-proportioned  frame. 
His  strongly  marked  but  regular  and  expressive  fea 
tures  bear  the  stamp  of  intelligence  and  power,  while  in 
his  steel-blue,  deep-set,  penetrating  eyes  may  be  read 
the  determination  and  force  of  will  characteristic  of 
one  who  has  raised  himself  to  a  foremost  rank  among 
the  statesmen  of  Oregon,  and  to  a  national  reputation. 


